You Are My Clarity - On hiatus
by The Walking Daryl
Summary: Loki, a new student at Stark University has to acclimate to a new life, new friends, new living arrangements, and a new...boyfriend? Anthony Stark is cocky, self-absorbed, and completely obnoxious as always. How will this even work? They're two completely different individuals, one could say the Yin to the Yang. College AU with a back Capsicoul and a /slight/ hint at LokixBruce.
1. Chapter 1

_Loki looked up at his brother who was only older by a year, as he sat in a sand box. Thor, his older brother who had just recently turned six, was hovering over him with the biggest grin in the world. The sun hit his brother just right, making his hair look like wheat floating in the wind. That was always how Loki had described the blond locks of Thor Odinson, while his were black as night. They definitely looked different by far, Thor was as tan as a five year old can be, with bright blue eyes, blond hair down to his shoulders, and was considered average in weight. Loki, on the other hand, was as pale as snow – or a ghost as Thor said, with dark jade green eyes, jet black hair down to his middle back, and looking a little underweight. Loki was in the middle of building a sand castle, which he was quite proud of, considering he was forced to go out and play with the other kids his age, when Thor came up to him and started speaking._

_"I learnt a new word today, Loki!" He cried out happily, always being the bubbly type._

_Loki looked up at him in sheer curiosity, eyes wide with excitement, "What is the word, brudder?" _

_ "Shit! Like, 'oh shit, daddy is gonna kill me, I scratched his car'!" He kept smiling, fairly content with what he had said._

_Loki's eyes went wide, knowing that was a bad word to say, and he stood up, looking around for their mum and dad. Spotting them under a tree on a bench, completely ignoring the fact that they had kids, he started heading toward them. Their mum had long, curly brown hair that looked like it belonged to a goddess, and soft brown eyes only a mother could own. She was sitting in a long dark blue skirt with one leg crossed over the other, a pale grey flat covered foot pointed toward the ground. Her blouse was a white 100% cotton one that had lace around the collar and sleeves, flowing graciously over the top of her skirt. A pale red hat sat on top of her head, with a pink flower in the crease where the ends folded up. She told others her name was Frigga but, Loki secretly knew her actual name was mummy. Their dad had brown hair as well but, Loki didn't think it was as beautiful as his mum's, sometimes comparing it to mud. It was short and stuck to his head, sort of like it was a curse, wiry and old looking. He sat with his legs spread, like most daddies do, in black dress pants, black dress shoes, and a white button up long sleeved shirt. He always looked like he was going to work at an office, when he didn't work as often as he could. I guess that is what you can do when you own the world's leading car industry. He didn't wear a hat like Frigga; his head went bare, though his old brown eyes were covered by sunglasses. The wrinkles around his eyes made Loki think of tiny rivers running through his skin; the imagination of a child. He told everyone his name was Odin but, as the same with his mum, Loki secretly knew his actual name was daddy or papa._

_Little Loki Odinson ran as fast as he could through the park and over to them, skidding to a halt in front of Odin. He looked up at him, before tugging on his pants, trying to get his attention. The young boy stood a mighty three feet three inches tall, a bit on the short side for his age, clad in a monster truck t-shirt, camouflage pants, and shoes that lit up every time he took a step. His father looked down at him with one eyebrow raised after a moment, groaning and rolling his eyes when he realised it was Loki and not Thor. He had no idea that his father was annoyed, he just figured he was looking at the sky, so he did as well. Seeing nothing, he felt a bit confused but, remembered why he took this journey across the park and to their parents. Thor said a bad word. _

_"What do you need, child?" Odin asked him, in his gruff and deep voice._

_"Papa, Thor said a bad word," He answered in his innocent ways, looking back up at him._

_His father seemed to grow angry, groaning again, and shooing him away. "Stop being a tattle-tale, Loki."_

_Loki looked hurt, as Odin shoved him along, so he went back to where he left Thor and the castle, looking down at the ground, kicking sand along the way. When he reached his previous point, he kicked over the sand castle, crossed his arms, and glared at the messy pile below him. The yellow grains seemed to glare back, being hit by the sun, angering the boy and feeding into his mild tantrum. Thor was watching him with interest, wondering where his brother went off to and if he was okay. He let things get the better of him, and ended up tackling Loki to the ground and pinning him down. They usually wrestled but, with Loki being in a bad mood, he clawed and tried wiggling free. When that didn't work and just made Thor pin him down more, he let out a scream and the following words._

_"You shit, you got me dirty!" _

_Ah, the words from a kid, learnt from a brother who had just learnt it from a teenager who scratched his dad's car with his keys. In the moment he screamed and yelled out those words, his parents were running over to them, his mum riddled with worry, thinking something had happened to one of her precious angels. Odin noticed Thor pinning Loki down, and told him to get off, so their mum could check the younger one for injuries. Nodding a few times, she saw he was okay, and stood up, leaving him to still lie on the ground. Her philosophy was that if there were no "boo-boos" or "owies", they were able to function just fine, meaning he could get up on his own. Just as he was about to, he was hoisted up by his arm by a strong and rough hand, setting him on his feet, and before he knew it, he was being dragged home and scolded along the way by his dad._

_"Don't you EVER say that word again, Loki Odinson!" The man boomed from above them as Frigga walked behind with Thor, sulking in her arms._

_Loki was terrified, eyes watering with tears as he looked back at his mum and brother, wishing he could be held by her as well. When they got home and he was sent to his room, he tried wrapping his little mind around why he got in trouble for saying a bad word but, Thor didn't. It was in that moment he realised he was different, Thor was greater, better, and always, always daddy's favourite. _

A young man, around the age of twenty, stood looking in the mirror of the public bathrooms in the dorms at the University he was going to start attending. His older brother and he had to start in the middle of a semester, being new to the country from Norway, yanked out of the previous one they went to. Since his father still paid their tuitions, they were forced to move to New York, New York in the USA, his brother being the straight A student, majoring in the car and business industry, while he was a straight A student majoring in literature and foreign languages. Did father ever care that he could speak six different languages fluently, understand a near dead language, and read four other ones? No, he was too caught up in his future successor of Allfather Industries, which developed top of the line cars from sports all the way down to mini vans. It didn't honestly matter anymore; Thor was always going to be at the top, with Loki at the bottom. It wasn't like he was abused physically, only a bit mentally, always pushed to the side to let his big brother take the lime light. Oh well, he was going to be great one day, finally taking the world by storm. One last look in the mirror told him he looked fine enough to go to his first class of the first day, pushing iPod ear buds into his ears and scrolling through his songs. Usually, his MP3 players were filled with Classical songs, Beethoven being his favourite classical artist, the song being Moonlight Sonata. He ignored them for the first time in a while, choosing a song he listened to most when he was depressed. Skin by Sixx AM.

He wasn't sure if it was the lyrics that put him into such a state of being where he could actually relate to something or another, or if it was the rhythm and tune that he could connect to and let it take over for a while. He decided to go with both, for now, since wasn't that how songs worked? Shrugging the thought off, he fixed his vest and left the restroom. Once he got away from the later years in school and actually into a college around adults, he realised he wasn't bullied much anymore, and people were too caught up in their own things to really care what he was up to. His goal in life had always been to get an education and become a world renowned author and philosopher. Loki knew being a philosopher wouldn't really get him any money but, he was never the one to want currency…desire it. It was just a piece of paper after all; it didn't matter in his world. From that thought process, he wanted to become a gypsy at one point in his life but, decided he would much rather take showers and live where he had some stability, instead of jumping around from place to place, couch to couch, or creating his own means of shelter. He didn't hate anyone who followed the gypsy lifestyle; he actually respected them more than his own family half the time. The young black haired, pale skinned adult ducked around the corner to the hallway he was coming to a close at. His eyes were focused on where he was walking instead of down on the ground, as most people expected him to walk, like some crazy depressed person. Crazy as in extreme, not insane, of course. He never understood why people saw him that way; probably due to the way he dressed (which wasn't too bad) or the way he looked. Oh well, he wasn't really the one to let people get to him with their judgments. What other people think of you is none of your fucking business, he always said. On to the subject of him cursing, it wasn't like he did it all the time, or never at all, everyone used words classified as "bad", even the ones who claim themselves saints. He would rather use it to make his sentences a bit colourful, not use them always out of anger. That was an excuse brought by everyone who cursed but, those were the ones who cursed like a sailor – like they were the only words they understood.

Smirking to himself, he eyed some people leaning against a wall, smoking cigarettes and acting like it was the nineties. Loki shook his head at them, somewhat interested in the need to inhale smoke into one's lungs, something the body wasn't meant to take in. We were built to inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, nothing else; maybe it was the nicotine; it had to be that, or just to look cool around other people. Yuck. He was perfectly content with his pink and healthy lungs that wouldn't be subjected to cancers due to a cancer stick. Hah! Cancer sticks, how clever were people when they were trying to get people to let those go. He hummed the last bit of Skin by Sixx AM, raising his eyebrow when Moonlight Sonata came on next. That was ironic seeing how he was just thinking about that earlier, it must have been the next song on the shuffle. No one really gave him a second look as he made his way to his class, they never do, just someone else going about their lives, just another person at the college, no one interesting, no one special, just there. He cleared his throat, gripping the handle, pulling one ear bud out, and going inside. No one looked at him here, either, except one or two people who glanced up, then ignored him. He found that oddly amusing, since back in high school, if you opened a door, it was like you were walking the green mile down to the execution chamber. The professor watched him enter, one of the very few who did, motioning him over.

"Are you the electrician?" He asked, nonchalantly.

Finally, someone who didn't seem like they had ODed on Prozac, "No, I don't think I fit that bill," He answered, motioning to his outfit, "I'm new,"

The professor, middle aged, with salt and pepper hair, sad grey eyes surrounded by wrinkles that made him look like he was around seventy, and a little soul patch on his chin that was dyed black. Probably a mid-life crisis thing or just trying to make a statement. What kind of statement a man around forty-seven needed to make, he was quite unsure of, and maybe something in his personality would give it away. He decided he would watch him for a while, try to understand, another person added to his list of people to figure out. Some people called him a modern day Sherlock, as he could relate to people on a level most couldn't, and could guess most of their entire life story. It was easy, just have to watch their body language and pick out details about their clothing and way they kept their body. For instance, the professor had glasses on with fake glass in the lens, indicating he was either trying to be "cool" for the students, or was trying to enhance his age. Judging by his faded Pink Floyd t-shirt, ripped jeans, and converse from another decade, he was trying to be "cool" for the students. Either that, or going through that mid-life crisis he had thought up before. That was one of the better things about being in this university, not everyone was snot nosed and stuck up, they wore whatever felt comfortable as long as it remained on a somewhat professional level and wasn't too risqué. Given that some chose to wear dresses, skirts, or suits with nice dress shoes, trying to remain "presentable" in the eyes of students and other people. America had its ups but, it still had such horrible down falls that made it such a…large country that craved subjugation. They needed better order than they had, someone who could rule with an iron fist, keep them under control, and not be so horrendous. That was a story for another time, since the professor motioned him to go sit down somewhere.

Loki nodded and went over to an open seat that was around the middle of the room, sliding into it. He looked around the area he was in to see all he shared a class with, nodding a couple times when he was content with them all. He nodded a lot; it was kind of his way of talking, though the only person who understood that was Thor. His eyes rested on the professor who looked like he was about to address the class, before rolling his eyes and sighing a minute. He was obviously waiting on someone to enter the room, as he was a bit on edge, and Loki's first thought was the electrician he mentioned earlier. When said person did not come, he shook his head a moment and looked over to Loki. He raised his eyebrow at him, drawing a tongue over chapped lips, before actually deciding to speak. He listened to him speak out of sheer boredom, like he would have rather been somewhere else, anywhere but here.

"We have a new student, so I figured I should introduce myself once more. My name is Alistair James, and I am a literature professor here at Stark University,"

He listened to the chuckle that arose from the room at the mention of the school's name, like it had meant something. Alistair James, one of the most brilliant authors and documentary film makers around, and Loki's idol. He tapped a finger against the hard fake wooden desk he sat at, looking down at the floor a moment, before turning his attention back to James, who was discussing something with another student. Now, he understood why he looked like he was so bored with life and dressed that way, he actually was. From greatness and making millions off his books and films to teaching at a university, it must have been such a downgrade, such a loss of fame, and probably something he was looking for as he got closer to the age he could retire at. Just a hobby, more than likely, and one he didn't seem too thrilled about. Loki filed that into the file in his brain now titled "Alistair James", which he would return to later to analyse. Hearing someone clear their throat, he realised James' attention was back on him, and he acted like he was waiting for him to speak. From looking at his eyes and facial expressions, Loki could tell he wanted an introduction back.

"Loki Laufeyson, sir," He introduced himself as, nodding once.

"Ah, would that be German?" Alistair questioned, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Norwegian, actually," The thick accent spilled out of his voice as he switched back from his American one.

His eyes went wide a moment, as he heard the new voice fill his ears, beginning to smile. Loki winked at him before dragging his gaze over to the door, which caused Alistair to follow. Nothing was there that others could expect but, Loki heard the footsteps and the heavy breathing that accompanied someone running like they were late for something, class more than likely. It was already ten past ten, so whoever it was, was a bit tardier than they should be, so it would explain why they were in a rush. His pupils dilated like a cat's would when they were focused on something, while he stared at the mahogany door, waiting for the person to come in. He was on edge like he usually was when someone he didn't know burst through and into a room, the door flying open and making him nearly jump and cling onto something. A guy around his age with less than perfect brown hair, a bit shorter than he, chocolate brown eyes, rough hands that looked like they were overused (probably working on things too much), clad in a black AC/DC shirt, blue jeans, and some expensive line of shoes he wasn't familiar with. The man was panting, a smirk smacked on his face that he seemed to plaster on whenever he came in contact with another person, holding his body like he thought he was better than everyone else.

"Mr. Stark, glad you could make it. You're late, again," Professor James put a lot of emphasis on "again", indicating he was always late. "Please have a seat. Next time, you will speak to the dean about why you are so tardy."


	2. Chapter 2

"My father owns this University, bro; I can do as I please. Did you forget? He owns this school and Stark Industries, I can have you fired with a blink of my eye," The younger man sneered, acting like he ruled the world.

James just shook his head and sighed softly, ignoring the arrogant Stark, who proceeded to take a seat right next to Loki. Loki looked him over now that he was closer, noting every scar, worn looking eyes, scratch, freshly stained clothing, and a desire to be something more. He wasn't what he pretended to be, Loki could see straight through his little facade. Loki could feel Stark's eyes boring into his skin as he stared, making the black haired one curl his lip. Why was that man staring? What does he want? Ugh, this is going to be a long day. He sighed, trying to ignore him, as he watched the professor talk about what they were going to do today. His long fingers went up to rub his temples in aggravation, that damned Stark kid would not leave him be, would not stop staring. It was testing Loki's patience, and he was about to scream, hands now clenching the sides of the desk. A few moments later, his eyes travelled to his hands to notice the knuckles turned white and blood was straining to get to his fingers. Quickly, he released the desk, flexing his hands as they now ached, flipping them around to stare at his palms, which showed an indent from the sides of the desk.

"So, you're the new kid, eh?" Stark said to him, acting like they were in primary school again.

Loki just rolled his eyes, not bothering to respond, furthering his irritation. He heard him laugh lowly, sending shivers up Loki's body, which caused him to let out a shaky breath. He tried focusing on James again, who was at the chalk board drawing out the key points of something or another. He couldn't keep his attention on what was going on, for probably the first time in his life. That being next to him was just keeping his thoughts clouded and stuck somewhere else. He tilted his head to the side ever so slightly to listen to Stark try to get his attention again, and get him to speak to him. You already have my full attention, you treholt. Please just shut your stupid American mouth and let me get back to what I was intending on listening to. He mentally cursed himself for using the word "treholt" to throw at the other, never proud of such, and it not making enough sense to him why he called him a traitor in his head. One last time, he pestered Loki for him to speak, in which Loki responded by getting up and leaving the room without a word.

He was sick of it, sick of the people who harassed him, sick of people like Stark. Tired of the Americans already, even though he had only been here a week, tired of the way he was treated, and wishing he had never thought America would be as great as he first perceived. They have so much pride and thinking they are the best country in the world, and they spit out people like Stark. They spit him out like he is someone who will bring them great fame and fortune, a son of a possible billionaire. Well, Loki was as well but, he wasn't as cocky and self absorbed. He didn't bother people to get information out of them, he didn't interrupt classes, he didn't mouth off to others because his dad owned something, and he was completely opposite, the yin in the midst of a yang. That is exactly how he saw it, the good in the evil. He shook his head as he left the hall and went into a courtyard that was in the centre of the school. Fresh air filled his lungs and he took that chance to cool down so he could return to class, not like he was really thrilled on being annoyed to death by that...child. He would probably pick a different spot to sit in so he could actually get his college education and not lose this rare opportunity to be taught by Alistair James. The sun baked into his skin so he backed up into the shadows, staring at some people who were walking around in front of him. In the second he finally calmed down, a giant booming voice echoed through the yard.

"Brother!" Thor. Thor Odinson, on his way over to his younger brother. "What are you doing out of class?"

Loki turned around in time to see him walk up behind him, eyeing the bigger man up and down, noting that he still had extremely large muscles, blond hair that went to his shoulders like he had when he was a kid, dressed as casual as possible, and a giant smile he always wore stretching across his face. His blue eyes only revealed joy and happiness as they rested on him, hiding a bit of pain but, not too much like what Stark's did. The skinnier of the two cocked an eyebrow as he saw Thor outstretch his arms and engulf him in a monstrous hug, like he hadn't seen him in a million years. As he was picked up and squeezed, he felt air rush out of his lungs, followed by a noise of protest and a laugh. Thor held onto him like he was his favourite teddy bear, not letting go for quite some time. He laughed louder as his brother buried his face into Loki's hair that was draped across his shoulders, something he always did since they were little. He figured it was Thor's way of being comforted, seeing as how he did it quite often and it was something he was familiar with.

"You always smell wonderful, brother," He commented softly, setting him back down on his feet.

Loki brushed himself off and fixed his vest, ignoring the people watching the two Norwegian brothers bonding through a hug. He had a smile on his face that threatened to outstretch Thor's, who when noticed, let out a roar of laughter. Thor was always happy and he loved it, and when he wasn't, Loki was always there for him. Be it girl troubles, issues with their father, something to do with the car industry losing some stocks one year, or anything that seemed trivial. They would always be okay if they had each other, and as far as Loki knew, that would be forever. Not like he planned on living with Thor or anything crazy like that, he just was comforted by the idea that he would always be around when he needed him. Their moment was interrupted by someone running out into yard from the classroom he was just in, grabbing onto a column to support himself as he breathed heavily and made whimpering noises. Loki's attention was drawn to the person seeming to have a massive anxiety attack less than a few feet away. Stark. He was the one having the attack, and Loki intended to find out why, or at least calm him down. It was in his nature to be caring and helpful to those who needed it, even thinking on changing, or adding therapy to his career path. He shot Thor an apologetic look as he went over to Stark who was lost in his anxiety. He could have sworn he saw a tear slide down the tan cheek of the man who was now in front of him, and it nearly broke his heart. Nearly.

"Stark? Stark, look at me. Hey, you there? Look at me," He calmly spoke in his Norwegian voice, hoping it would bring him out of what he was fighting.

He watched him jump and look up with "deer in the headlights" eyes, much like he was being hunted, and Loki was the hunter. Loki could hear his breathing pick up more, to the point where he was hyperventilating as he stared, still lost in whatever he was freaking out about. PTSD, Loki confirmed, knowing he had to take this slow and easy. He reached out his hand slowly and rested it on Stark's shoulder, who nearly leaped out of his skin, and shook like a leaf. He rubbed his shoulder in a soothing way, noting that people had gathered around to watch the two, including his brother, who already knew Loki's ways. At this moment, it was only Stark and him, and he was going to make sure he was okay. Fuck having such a compelling need to be there for everyone, fuck Stark for being obnoxious earlier, and fuck everything. He felt the fear coursing through his body as he rubbed his shoulder, not saying a word until the fear started to subside. He seemed like he was starting to come out of it, until someone made a loud bang sound, shoving him right back into it, recoiling from Loki's touch, and punching him straight in the nose. Shit, that hurt. He hissed in pain and held his face for a moment, watching how no one dared move in to restrain him, figuring that he had done this before and he would get worse. It wasn't enough power to break his nose but, it sure did bring blood.

"Listen to my voice, just breathe. Inhale, exhale. It's just you and me right now; we are the only things in this universe, just us. It's okay, nothing here will hurt you," He expertly explained, eyes focused on him.

It was working, because he was now controlling his breathing, and beginning to calm down. It felt like hours before he got him to relax enough that he was back to reality, even though it was about seven minutes. He nodded to Thor who began ushering everyone away, and was even helped by Professor James to get everyone back to class or whatever they were doing before. Once they all were gone, even Thor, Loki wrapped his arms around Stark who collapsed in them, a sobbing and shaking mess. He comforted automatically, rubbing his back and hushing him, much like his mother used to do when he was upset. They were now sitting on the ground with Stark in his lap, clinging to him, and Loki rocking the crying man. He ran his hand soothingly through his hair, reminding him that he was here, and nothing was going to happen. It wasn't the first time he had comforted a random stranger, he held a crying woman after she watched her husband leap to his death off a bank building back in Norway.

Loki was walking aimlessly around the town after a particularly nasty fight with father about him needing to get his head out of the clouds and work toward being a business owner. He knew full well that Thor was going to take over the car business after Odin retired, so he decided to go his own way. It felt kind of like they were royalty, gods even, and Thor was going to be the heir to the throne, the ruler over the heavens, the leader to all. He snarled to himself as he punched the air in a mid jump, it forcing his body to spin around 180 degrees. He sighed, pushing the air upward into his hair, before turning back around and walking the way he was going in the first place. Rounding a corner, he came across a scene of a body lying in a pool of blood with a white sheet over it in front of a bank, mangled and contorted in only a way a body could look that hit the ground from falling. He deduced that he had ran across a suicide, and right when he squeezed between the row of people surrounded by flashing police lights and ambulances, he spotted a woman with her hands over her mouth, eyes squeezed shut, and sobbing. Looking her over, he realised she must have been that person's wife, sibling, or parent but, judging by the ring on her finger, he had to go with wife. He ducked under the police line stating he was the brother to the deceased, and got over to the woman.

He watched her cry for a little bit longer before wrapping his arms around her, and holding her. She looked down at him through blurry tear filled eyes in a bit of shock, before crying onto the fifteen year old boy who had a hold of her. He whispered comforting words to her in their native language, rubbing her back gently until the tears subsided and she was okay enough to stand on her own and wipe her eyes. They stared at each other for a bit longer, before the cops figured out he wasn't related and ushered him away. She shot a word of thanks to him, smiling through her pain, and Loki nodded. He was happy he was able to calm someone down like that outside of his family, especially a random stranger, and knew that was what he wanted to do. He wanted to be there for people who just needed someone, needed someone to cry on, and to comfort them. He headed away from the scene and down to the docks at the ocean they lived by, going to watch the waves.

He was brought out of the memory by a whimpering Stark, who was done crying and just sitting there in his lap. Loki looked down at him with sympathy, still holding onto him to make sure he was okay. He decided he wouldn't make this a habit of his, he just wanted to make sure Stark knew he had someone who cared, someone to go to. Stark looked up at him with pained eyes, attempting to say something but, nothing was coming out, so he sighed instead. Loki couldn't help but chuckle at how pitiful he was and looked, and raised his eyebrow at him. Stark tried giving him a glare and when that didn't work well either, he grunted and got comfortable in the lap he had taken over. Loki shook his head a moment, figuring they weren't going anywhere any time soon. First day of class at a new university, all wasted because of this damned person on his legs, all gone because of Stark. His chance to work under Alistair James, one of his major idols as he has stated a few times before, removed. Well, only one day was lost but, it still stung, he wanted to make an impression other than his voice. He kept his gaze on Stark, pushing his own hair out of his face so it wasn't bothering him. A glow coming from the man's chest caught his interest, now staring at the blue light trying to push through the dark shirt he was wearing. It was barely visible but, Loki could see it, especially since he is keen to that kind of stuff. He desperately wanted to touch it, figure out what it was, and why it was emitting such a soft mechanical hum. Was it in his chest? Was it outside of it? He didn't know but, he held himself back from touching it and asking, it wasn't his place to do so.

Roughly ten minutes had past of them just sitting like that until Thor came over and sat next to him, eyes on Stark who was just staring off into the distance with his head below Loki's chest. Loki nodded to his brother, acknowledging his presence, since his eyes were still focused on Stark. He felt a giant arm be thrown across his shoulders and a hug administered to him, as they both watched the guy who now managed to wiggle himself off of Loki's legs and in between them. He decided Stark wasn't so bad, and now was curious as to what his first name was, so he didn't always have to refer to him by his last. No words were exchanged between the three of them but, he knew Thor was dying to say something. He shook his head, making sure Thor realised that they had to stay silent at this time.


	3. Chapter 3

Loki tapped a pen against the desk in his Foreign Language class, taking it so he could freshen up on his Russian. His mind floated back to comforting Stark, who had eventually got up and walked away without a word. Loki was used to that, though, he knew Stark was thankful, and was too cocky to say so. When he entered this room, a bit late, the professor had him introduce himself in Russian, and treated him like he had no idea what any word meant. He had sighed, introducing himself, and then showed off by doing so in Norwegian, Irish, Italian, English, German, and Spanish. The class all clapped and the professor glared, irritated that Loki showed her up like that. She had introduced herself as Professor Natalia Romanova and told him to find a seat, in which he did toward the front. When he looked up at her, she was talking about how to pronounce certain words Loki already knew, so he zoned back out. Father always hated that he didn't pay attention to things that were deemed important but, a great writer isn't one who is too serious. He didn't exactly have the time to meet anyone here, so everyone was a mystery to him, name wise. When he looked to the person on his right, he saw that she was an environmentalist vegetarian who probably tied herself to trees and cried that they deserved the right to live just as much as anyone else did. Not like it really mattered to Loki, though, he liked trees just as much as the next person but, he wasn't going to give his life for one.

His eyes travelled to the blond haired boy in front of her, seeing the way he sat and looked terribly bored, figuring out he was what one would consider a "jock", and judging from his body size, he was the star quarter back here at Stark University. He probably got a scholarship back in high school, and looked like he had nothing better to do with some spare time, so he sat learning Russian with people who probably actually did care. He scoffed lightly to himself, examining the rest of the class, going through his mental list of different personalities and persons, placing one with each individual. He hadn't run across someone he couldn't read, yet, they all proved to be too damned easy. Loki sighed, looking up to the ceiling now, counting how many squares made it up. It wasn't really separate squares as it was designs that made it look like they were; it was completely solid, much like an average building or home. The university was far from average, it had a lot of money poured into it, judging by the marble columns that ran around the school, and black granite tile underfoot. The building itself was a dark red colour that seemed to give it a slight eerie tone, running three stories high, accompanied by dorms of the same style that rested to the right of it. They were back a bit off the road, surrounded by an enormous silver gate which looked Victorian. Hell, everything about it seemed to be Victorian, that Stark guy who owned everything must have had a lot of money, and Loki wouldn't put it past his father to befriend the man.

He was brought out of his thoughts about the school by Romanova, who was addressing the American foot ball player he was picking apart before. "Rogers!"

"Yeah?" He responded, one word, looking up from what he was drawing on the desk.

She let out an annoyed sigh, gripping the bridge of her nose between two fingers. "In Russian, please."

"Da?" He changed his word to, and that was when Loki went back to his thoughts.

It didn't prove interesting enough to him, so he ignored everything of this lesson today. Rogers, Stark, why can't people address each other by their first names? Weird country. He snorted, getting up with the rest of the class to leave. As he started walking, he looked Romanova over, watching the way her fiery red hair pooled past her shoulders and down to the middle of her back, starting out straight and becoming wavy at the end. She looked to be just barely reaching thirty, wore no glasses, had greenish eyes, stood a mighty five foot six inches tall, and wore semi-formal clothes. What is meant by that is she was wearing a nice blouse with a necklace but had on skinny jeans and high heels. She didn't look too rich, so he guessed this job was what brought her income in, wondering if they were paid a lot or average. He smirked when he was caught staring by her, who seemed to think he was hitting on her. She acted like it has happened many times before, blowing it off but, still staring back. He was just analysing, not looking for pleasurable purposes, since he just shrugged it off like nothing happened. He turned, about to exit the room, when she grabbed his arm, and forced him to spin around. She had a smirk on her lips now, and he knew a question was just about to be shot at him.

"Vy gavareeteh pa ru-sky?" She asked him in her thick Russian accent, inquiring if he spoke Russian.

He laughed, nodding a bit, before responding in his Norwegian accent, "Da."

She laughed as well as he walked out of the room, leaning against the wall by the door for a little while. Thor was supposed to be over so they could get coffee together, and have Thor talk his ear off about the new school and cars. His eyes darted all over the hall, listening to the sounds of other people talking, running, laughing, and just being themselves. At the same time his phone went off indicating he had a text, the area emptied so fast Loki felt like he had just been shoved. He wasn't used to sudden silence like that, and the blood flowing through his veins was all too apparent. He grumbled a bit as he checked the text, seeing it was from his brother, who asked him to meet him at the front so they could go out. He rolled his eyes and pushed himself away from the wall, looking up at the pearl chandelier that stood still above his head, counting the light bulbs that lit the area. He chuckled softly, so damned trivial, and no one paid attention to the thing that provides them with the ability to see, since the sun didn't reach this part of the college. Head moving back to where it naturally rested, his eyes focused on the end of the hall, ears zoning in on the same low hum that he heard come from Stark's chest earlier that day. He cursed under his breath, not really wanting confrontation from that man right now, not exactly in the mood for assholes. He exhaled sharply, going on the walk down the way toward Stark, who was now visible.

The blue glow was still barely visible, he still walked like he was full of it, and his eyes were on him. Loki reached up and rubbed his temples as he walked, contemplating on pulling out his iPod and playing it to get past Stark without being talked to, eyeing the smirk that was now on Stark's face. He decided against the music, figuring he better get it over with as they came face to face. He stood four inches higher but, it was still a height difference, and Stark still had to crane his neck a bit to make eye contact. They stared each other down for a good minute, the fucking smirk still there that Loki wanted to slap off, his eyes giving away that he knew something. At that moment, he remembered being punched in the face, and the ache from it started back up. He cringed slightly, wanting to rub the pain away but, forcing the rest of his body not to move. The bleeding had stopped as quickly as it had started but, he did have a lot of blood come dripping out. It left a stain on the collar of his shirt, which Stark was now looking at with a bit of sympathy and regret, like he felt bad for socking the guy who comforted him. Another minute had passed, no words had been exchanged, and he desperately wanted to get to his brother so he could have that brilliant taste of caramel coffee fill his mouth and slide down his throat. Oh how he loved coffee, almost admittedly more than he loved drinking his tea.

"Er, hey, Loki," Stark finally spoke, making Loki look at him in sheer shock. How the hell did he figure out his name?

"How do you know my name?" He nearly snapped, glaring with the force of a thousand suns.

"I am Tony Stark, babe, maybe you forgot but my dad kind of owns this place, so I have access to everyone's names and information. You are Loki Laufeyson, brother to Thor Odinson, son of Odin and Frigga AllFather, here to study literature and foreign language. Russian, to be exact, and you are the son of the man who owns a giant car business back in Norway, which you are from," He seemed a little more than happy that he knew so much about Loki, and Loki was about to knock him out cold.

"How dare you invade my privacy like that, you treholt," He snarled lowly in his accent, venom dripping from every syllable.

"The fuck is a treholt?" Was the only response he got, so in order for him not to turn violent, he shoved past Tony and headed out to where his brother was.

He was fuming, something he hadn't been in a long time, stalking out to his brother who was leaning against his vehicle. He would have accepted the third hug today but, he was ready to explode, and he just slid into the passenger's side of the blue Nissan LEAF his brother was driving, imported from Norway. Of course, only the best for dear old Thor Odinson. Loki sighed away the jealousy as he watched his brother get into the right side and speed away without a word, looking at him out of the corner of his eye a couple times. He knew Thor wanted to question, wanted to know why his brother was angry, and wanted to make sure he was okay. Loki couldn't be entirely annoyed by this, he just cared, and it was someone who actually did. Once they turned onto a freeway, probably Thor's way to get him to calm down since they passed the coffee shop long ago; he took a few deep breaths, closing his eyes. He let his mind wander and focus on something other than Tony as they hit speeds of 100mph. He was a very easily startled person, and that was proven by a scream nearly exiting his lungs when Thor spoke.

"Loki...?" His voice was full of worry and concern, which caused Loki to look at him with sympathy.

"Fine, you can ask," He sighed, smirking a bit when Thor's mood suddenly changed to extreme happiness.

"What happened back there, brother? Why did you seem so angry?" His attention was back on the road but, Loki knew he was still listening.

Another sigh, a short rub of his cheek bones, and more words. "That Stark kid, you know him, right, the one I held while he cried, earlier? Well, he got so damned cocky that he decided it was okay to pull up my information on the school's data base, do a bit of research, and come tell me what he knew about me."

Thor flinched, knowing how touchy he was about his privacy, before he slowly nodded and got off at the nearest exit. They had driven a good twenty-five miles in the opposite direction of the school, now sitting in the parking lot of a strip mall of sorts, across the street from a coffee house. Loki watched the flickering lights of the OPEN sign hanging in the door, finding interest in the red and blue LED bulbs that made it up. In those doors was his coffee, his drug, the thing that helped keep him calm and stable when nothing else did. It was the thing he could drink when all hope was seemingly lost and when Thor wasn't around to make things better. It was his addiction, his sanity, and he was about to go savour that wonderful flavour. Thor rubbed his thigh comfortingly before exiting the vehicle, stretching upward, and sighing happily. Loki smiled, shaking his head as he watched his older brother, wondering how he could be so damned joyful when the world was shitty. I guess it wasn't in his world; was it peaceful in that mind of his? Probably not, things were probably conflicting, and a personal war was raging in that big organ in his head. He followed suit, getting out and walking over to the front of the car, leaning against the hood until Thor joined him. At first glance, they probably looked like friends or lovers as Thor hooked his arm around Loki's and they jaywalked across a busy street to get to the shop. Loki secretly thanked New York for being one of the first states to recognise gay marriage, even though he wasn't in love or involved with his brother on a level like that.

The air was far from fresh but, it was still a bit refreshing from that stuffy classroom at the university. He inhaled and exhaled, standing in front of the brown shop with clear as day windows, listening for any sounds of nature, which wasn't there, due to being drowned out by the rushing of cars. Soon enough, that was too much to bear, so he gripped his face with a thumb on one temple and middle and ring finger on the other, then ducked inside, followed by his brother. The handle was probably a cheap knock off of steel with a paint job that made it look like it was made of solid gold, and the door was your average brown wooden door with cut outs that was surrounded in metal holding a window. He raised his eyebrow as the door dinged when it was opened, signalling to everyone he had just entered, getting the attention of the cashier behind the counter who welcomed them into the shop. He gave the lady a small smile when they approached, since she was grinning with the ever famous "ODed on Prozac" personality this country was damned with. He wasn't sure if the woman was checking him out or just trying to be friendly, when she called him "sir", winked, and ran her tongue across her lower lip with a short bite after. Flirting, definitely flirting, since she flipped her hair at him and acted like she was a few cookies short of a dozen. Thor found her absolutely amazing, as he struck up a conversation with her about dancing and the nearest night club.

Loki blew upward, rolling his eyes a moment before walking over to a male cashier who was watching the three. He raised his eyebrow at the man, leaning somewhat against the counter, as he began to read the menu above. He was offered a small smile from him, in which he returned, before going back to reading. What looked good? A latte? Cappuccino? Yes, that is what he wanted. As he was about to order, Thor walked over to him with a giant shit-eating grin, slapping him on the back. Oh my gods, what did he do? He watched the man in front of him at the counter jump a bit, so he shot his brother a glare. Judging by the way the chick he just walked away from, and the way Thor was acting, he had just scored a date with her. He honestly didn't care, and didn't want his ear talked off, he just wanted his drink, and now probably a light snack to go along with it, possibly a bagel. Tuning his ranting brother out, he focused on the different types of bagels they had, running through all the different flavours they presented. Finally deciding, he shooed his brother's hand away before it collided with his back, again, and looked back at the cashier who was watching him intently. Loki eyed him up and down, someone of his age range, probably a university student at the same university Thor and him went to, judging by his red wrist band which proudly read Stark University. He had nearly bleached blond hair, hazel eyes, an almost perfect nose, tan complexion, and looking at his hand told Loki he was an archer. His eyes ran over to his shirt, staring at the uniform which had the company's logo on it and a name tag which read Clint.

"I'll have a caramel cappuccino with a blueberry bagel and some cream cheese, please," He told him, watching him enter the order into the cash register.

"That will be $7.95, sir," Clint responded when he got the total, and Loki pulled out his wallet.

Loki nodded and pulled out a ten, telling him to keep the change, and received a receipt in return. He stepped aside so Thor could order, silently wondering why he didn't just order from the girl he picked up. He shrugged and waited for his to be filled, leaning back against the counter. Thor finished his order after changing it about four times, and went to stand in front of his brother. Loki arched his neck up slightly in order to look at him, seeing as he was a couple inches taller, watching his lips move. He didn't pick up on the sound, just stared, and nodded on occasion. He was tapped on his shoulder by Clint who was trying to get his attention before, in order for him to give him his drink and food. He took it, giving him a short "thanks", now sipping the drink tenderly and holding his bagel in its white paper. Turning his attention outside, what he saw made him nearly drop his food, while panic started to take over his body. Someone was stealing Thor's car, and before he could run outside, they were gone.


	4. Chapter 4

Thor was pacing around as he had 911 on the phone, reporting his car missing, while Loki stood where it last was, looking at the sky. He knew they had to tell their father what happened, and they needed a lift back to the university. Loki gripped his head, entangling his fingers in his hair as he groaned, adverting his eyes down to the ground. He definitely wasn't in the mood to deal with Odin right now, and he knew he would be angry, and probably force Thor to get around using public transportation, instead of giving him the car back. Him and his stupid punishments. He heard Thor finish his conversation with the operator and walk over to him, standing in front of him like before, sighing heavily. Loki just wrapped his arms around him to comfort him with a hug, watching as he buried his face into his hair. Yep, definitely a comfort tactic. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Thor looked at him with sad eyes, breaking Loki's heart. He hated seeing his brother like that, and he was at a loss for words to make him happy at this moment, because he was sad as well.

"We have to tell dad," He muttered softly, now looking at the ground and sulking.

Loki nodded and stared at him as he got his phone out and called their father. He nearly whimpered when Thor told him what happened, listening to his voice crack, then telling him how long it would be before the police arrived; thirty minutes. They were currently busy with a bank robbery about three miles away, so there weren't any available units able to deal with this situation right now. He flinched and rubbed Thor's back as Odin's voice boomed through the speaker, full of anger, and tears started falling from his brother's eyes. It wasn't his fault that the car got stolen, shit happens, so he didn't understand why Odin was so angry. Thor hung up after a few, whispering that their dad would be there in fifteen minutes, looking absolutely terrified. Loki brought him into yet another hug, rubbing his back and hushing him, telling him it would be okay, as he mumbled about how father was going to kill him and hang his head above their mantel. Loki reassured him that he won't be murdered, that the rage will pass, and that was just how their father was. When Thor pulled away, he smiled, and Loki knew he was going to be alright, because if Thor was anything, he was strong, and he wouldn't let some shit like this bring him too far down. The boys chatted for a bit, mostly about how Thor landed that chick, and how he planned on taking her out to dance tonight.

Five minutes had passed of them talking before a loud screech was heard from tires, and Loki's attention was drawn to the deep blue Viper that had just sped up. Father was here, and boy was he looking like he was going to kill someone. Loki wrapped his arm around Thor's shoulders to keep him calm as Odin stepped out of the car, dressed in a three piece suit. His hair was white now, and he wore an eye patch over one eye he lost in a car accident a couple years back. A thick piece of wood pierced it and splintered, causing his eye to become mangled, and having to be removed immediately when he got to the hospital. He was wearing black boots to accompany the grey suit and he had expensive cuff links hugging his wrists nicely. Odin never gave up the chance to look like he could afford the world, in which he could, Loki thought to himself while the man approached. He noticed their mother wasn't with him, so he probably came from the office, which furthered their father's negative mood. When he got to Thor, he stood leaning on one leg, sizing him up and looking absolutely calm. Thor was shaking a bit against Loki but, their father didn't say anything to him, instead giving Loki the most intense death glare he could muster. Loki was taken aback by this, and when he began to speak, Odin interrupted him.

"It's your fault, you stupid child," He was now in front of his younger son, looking him dead in the eye, since they were roughly the same height.

"Wh-what? My fault? How is it my fault? I didn't steal the car!" Loki yelled, causing his father to curl his lip up.

"You should have been more mindful of the car," He snarled, blood boiling.

"Yes, be totally mindful of a fucking car when I am in a building!" He snapped, his own anger rising up as he talked.

"Exactly, that is what you should have been doing instead of filling your ass full of coffee! As punishment, I am cutting you off for a month, and taking your credit cards away. You will not be riding with Thor anywhere, any more Loki Odinson; you will walk and maybe lose some weight. I am also pulling you out of literature and putting you in business with your brother," His father growled, staring at him with pure rage.

Loki blinked, beginning to shake as Odin threatened to take away his one chance at working with his idol and force him to go into something he didn't want. In the calmest voice he could bring up, he told him the following words, "My name is Loki Laufeyson, now, and you are not my father,"

What happened next changed his life, made it so he hated that man to the very core, and destroyed what little relationship they had left. Before he could inhale, Odin raised his hand and back slapped Loki across the face, full force, now completely breaking his nose and cutting across his cheek with his rings. Loki's head flew to the side as it took the hit, not having enough time to react to stop it, and his arm was removed from where it still rested on Thor. When he righted himself, he looked to his brother whose jaw hit the ground, and reached out to him. Loki pushed his hand away and ran away from the scene just as the police arrived, running full speed down the side walk. Blood was trickling from his nose and the cuts, becoming shaky lines down his face, and soaking into his vest. He looked down at it for a moment as he ran, cursing to himself that blood got on his clothes, slowing down to a walk. He looked back to make sure he was as far away as possible at this point before he stopped to catch his breath. He felt like he had run for an eternity when it was only about a mile, since he used to run track back in Norway. He hissed in pain when he reached up to feel his cheek and nose, looking at the blood that was on his fingers. He looked up at the sky, seeing the sun reach its highest point, determining it was around noon now. He groaned softly and started walking again, contemplating if he should go to a hospital or not to get his nose checked out. About the same time, a car started slowly following him, and he looked over to notice it was a silver Audi R8. It wasn't his father or Thor, thank gods but, it was still too dark in the car to see who was driving alongside him. He silently hoped it wasn't a mugger but, when he turned down a street, the car did, as well.

He picked up speed to a fast walk, occasionally looking over his shoulder at the person following him. He moved to dart across the street and down an alley but, the car cut him off, causing him to run into the hood. Fuck. The person rolled their window down, and Loki noticed it was none other than Tony Stark. Tony fucking Stark. He should have guessed, seeing how the car looked like it belonged to a billionaire, or the son of one, and they were slowly stalking him. He looked at the sunglasses covered eyes, watching Tony examine his face, not saying anything right now. That seemed to be how their conversations went, just staring and no talking. He stood with his hand on his hip, watching the man in the car, waiting for him to speak and stop staring. For once, he wasn't sure of the man's intentions but, judging by the way he was acting; he wasn't here to do anything dangerous. Loki exhaled sharply through his nose, not taking his eye off the future billionaire, and cleared his throat. Just say something already, Stark. Loki wanted to get back to the university so he could crash in his dorm for a few hours and escape the world.

"Are you alright, do you need a lift? Your face looks like hell, man," He finally spoke, removing his sunglasses.

Loki stood, about to run, like a gazelle being hunted by a lioness, until Tony offered him his hand. He closed his eyes a moment, before walking around the car and getting in the right side, not paying attention to the man next to him, much like their first encounter. The car smelt of alcohol and cigarettes but, they were a bit stale, probably from yesterday night, so he didn't have to worry about getting into a car with a drunk driver. He eyed the dark red carpet below his feet, quietly wondering what that man and his father's obsession with red was. He closed the door and Tony began driving, keeping at the speed limit, and not taking the freeway. This made it obvious that he wanted to talk about something, so Loki just shut him out before he could, glaring out the front window. He hadn't said anything, yet, and Loki intended on keeping it that way. Tony smelt of Axe cologne masking the scent of gasoline, which he wrinkled his nose to the best he could. A small whimper of pain caught Stark's attention, who now pulled off to the side of the road to stare at him. That seemed to be all Stark did, besides his "no talking for about five minutes" thing. Loki looked over at him when things started feeling uncomfortable with being stared at, flashing him a look of annoyance, causing the other man to laugh. Loki furrowed his eyebrows, as he was now really getting annoyed, and rolled his eyes when Tony started to talk.

"Your nose looks broken, and I can fix it if you'd let me but, trust me, it hurts like a bitch," He offered to help, in which Loki thought over for a moment, before shaking his head no.

"Come on, if it doesn't get fixed soon, it will forever stay badly crooked like that," He pushed, smirking as Loki took a look at himself in the review mirror, cursing as he saw how off it really was.

He huffed and gave in, turning back to Stark, who was now looking at him with kindness and no smirk, reaching his hands up to rest on either side of Loki's nose. "Now, try not to punch me,"

Right as those words left his mouth, he suddenly pushed on Loki's nose in a way that made it crack into place, causing the taller one to scream out in pain. He dodged a punch and laughed as Loki held his nose and groaned loudly, trying to rub away the immense pain he was in. When he looked back in the mirror, he saw it looked almost back to normal but, winced, and slammed back into the seat, gripping his nose again. Holy fuck, holy fuck, holy fuck. He turned to look back at Tony who was smirking away, like he was telling him "I told you so", and like earlier that day, he wanted to slap that smirk right off his face. When he had screamed, he felt something strain a bit on his cheek, and when he went to touch it, he felt dry blood. He quickly scratched it away, slipping on his seat belt, and started staring out the passenger side window as they started moving again. He would have rather taken two more hits in the face, one from Stark, and one from Odin again, then have that pain from fixing his busted nose. He knew it was going to be a bit contorted but, at least it w asn't as bad as before, and he had Tony to thank for that. Finally something that obnoxious guy was useful for, fixing noses. His eyes travelled around the car to land on Tony's hand, which had burnt flesh clinging to it. Why hadn't he noticed that before?

"What is with the burnt hand?" Loki questioned in a curious tone, keeping an eye on it.

"Lab accident, I was working on building something and it caught fire. Low and behold, my hand got burnt in the process," He explained, watching the road, and not turning his head.

Loki stayed silent from that point on as they went, getting closer to the school. His breath hitched in his throat as he saw Thor standing there with Odin by his side, watching them with a hateful look on his face, Thor looking like he had killed a man. Loki gripped the seatbelt tightly, keeping an eye on them while Tony parked, whining softly as he saw them approach. He exited the car swiftly and was about to run off, when Thor grabbed him by his bicep and pulled him into a hug. Odin patted Thor on his shoulder, completely ignoring his other son being hugged and left to go get in his car and drive off. When Thor let go of him, he started pouring apology after apology onto him, so he started walking back to their dorm, leaving Tony behind, since Thor was trailing him like a lost puppy. Once they got inside their dorm, Loki laid back on his bed while Thor sat beside him. He wasn't angry at his big brother, just their father but, he could feel the hurt coming off of him, radiating like the sun. He covered his face with his hands, taking special care not to touch his aching nose, ignoring the pain from the cuts. The last thing he heard before he succumbed to sleep was another apology, and a whisper that it was all Thor's fault.

It was about one am when he woke back up, having had a rough sleep from one pm to now, constantly waking up and staring back at the wall before passing back out. He didn't exactly plan on sleeping for twelve hours but, he did, and he was still extremely exhausted. He sat up, groaning and rubbing his eyes, looking around for Thor, who was at his desk, doing something. His groan caught Thor's attention, who turned around to look at him, sad eyes back on. Loki pushed his eyebrows together, furrowing them, as he watched Thor stand up and walk over, sitting next to him on the bed. From the way he was acting, he had something upsetting to tell, and Loki wasn't sure he wanted to know. Thor looked down at the carpet for a moment, before looking back up at him, near tears. His first thought was that something happened to their mum but, Loki knew he wouldn't wait this long to say something, he would have woken him up the minute he found out. Was it something to do with dad? The fight they had earlier? Did the stocks drop, again? Was he worried about that girl he stood up? No, it was something more, and Loki inhaled slowly, preparing himself for whatever it is.

"Loki, I need to tell you something," He whispered, trying to maintain eye contact.

Loki nodded for him to continue, so he just spilt it all, "Dad thought...it would be best, if...I signed up for the military here, and so I am going down tomorrow to do so. If I get accepted...I am being sent off for training over in Ohio for a few months...then off to war,"

Loki bit the inside of his lip, exhaling at the slight pain, making sure he wasn't dreaming. No, this wasn't a dream, Thor was about to leave him for a war he did not belong in, a war he did not cause. He can't just leave like that, he can't! Who will he go to now that his brother is probably going off to war, who will comfort him when his dad goes ballistic, who will hold him when he cried like he did to Thor? This was unfair, this was totally unfair, and he was not going to let this happen. Though, how could he stop his older brother when he was pressured by his father to be getting into the military? He felt like his whole world just came crashing down around him, and he suddenly struggled to breathe. As he took short breaths, tears started pushing past his eyes and running down his cheek, and Thor pulled him into his lap to let him cry. He wanted to struggle, he wanted to push him away but, he couldn't find the strength to fight seeing as how he was crying and still exhausted. He just gave up and cried on his brother's shoulder, who was now crying softly with him. This can't be happening, it must be some sort of sick twisted nightmare his mind came up with but, after bumping his nose against Thor's shoulder, he concluded again, that it wasn't a dream. It was fairly common for people, who are upset, to revert back to the idea that it wasn't real, they weren't in reality, and they were still asleep in their bed.


	5. Chapter 5

When he finished crying and calmed down enough, he slinked off of Thor's lap, grabbed a blanket and a pillow, and left the room, with his brother watching him. He sulked down the halls of the dorm, looking for someone in particular to go to, unsure why his body was leading him toward said man. Once he got there, he looked up at the door that mimicked the classroom doors, reading the sliver plaque on it with black lettering. Stark. Most rooms had the person(s) last name that inhabited the dorm on a plaque to tell you who was in them, and Loki was about to seek solitude from this man. He sighed, looking down at the tile, before looking back up and getting ready to knock. Why would the guy care about him, why would he want anything to do with him right now? So what if he was hurting, so what if he felt alone, Stark had no reason to care. He apparently did care, though, since when Loki knocked, he answered with a groggy "Come in". Loki blushed a moment despite himself, looking at the handle before opening it slowly, and stepping inside. He left the door open a bit, so if Tony looked up to see who it was, he would notice it was Loki.

"I'm having troubles sleeping; can I stay with you for a while?" He sniffled, hoping that Stark would not turn him away.

"Mm, come here, doll. I only have one bed, so we are going to have to share, alright, Loks?" He responded tiredly, motioning for him to enter.

Loki closed the door behind him, locking it, and stumbled through the dark until his legs collided with the bed. He looked down, trying to get his eyes to readjust to the night, and when they did, he stared at Tony for a bit. When he pulled the sheets back and dropped his own, he had accidentally removed it from Stark's upper torso, revealing a bright blue light coming from his chest again. Stark was shirtless, and he was about to get into a bed with another man who wasn't his brother. He reminded himself he wasn't here for sex as Tony watched him, slipping into the bed next to him. He kept his distance, scooting to the edge of the bed, until he was pulled closer and tensed up. Tony had let go of him and draped an arm around his waist, falling back asleep, guessing he did from his snoring. Loki just stared into the dark, watching the door, thinking about things like Tony's full name. It is Antony, Anthony, or Antonio, and it would take me quite some time to figure out his middle name. Antony sounds too formal, and Antonio sounds Latin, so I will have to go with Anthony. Anthony Stark, that had a nice ring to it, and when Tony woke up, he would ask him if that was his actual name. Without realising it, he had fallen asleep, only to be riddled with nightmares about Thor in the war, being killed, or worse, missing.

He whimpered and whined, kicking his legs a couple times, rolling around in his sleep. This, of course, woke Tony who was now shaking him awake. Loki jumped almost out of bed before he controlled himself and looked around wildly, hyperventilating and panicking. He looked over Tony's shoulder to see that it was five am, and he had only been asleep for about four and a half hours. He whined, hitting his head back on the pillow, and watched Stark who was watching him. Another moment of unspoken words passed, until Stark reached forward and ran his fingers through Loki's hair. He flinched away, not used to being touched like that by someone other than family and kept staring at him, wondering what was going on. He pulled his hand back before reaching down and running his fingers through his hair again. He still didn't speak, only kept this action going, soft eyes on Loki's face, who was now closing his eyes and nearly purring. He felt himself calming down, all his worries floating away as his hair was touched, rough fingers brushing over his ear a couple times. He guessed this was Stark's way of comforting and he liked it as he fought to stay awake. He was starting to feel something for this man, and he didn't want to, seeing as he only knew him a day but, the nagging feeling of attraction was biting at his brain.

"You just had a bad dream, it's okay. And don't worry about college tomorrow, I will tell your teachers you will be out with me," Stark whispered soothingly but, Loki was out before he could finish the end of the second sentence.

It was around ten am when he woke up, having an easy awakening, rolling over onto his back. He stretched his arms into the air, flexing his hands, yawning, and opening his eyes. He blinked a few times, rubbing away the sleep, before examining his surroundings. He was only a bit startled to realise he wasn't with his brother but, when the memories came flooding back from last night, he sighed and got up. He looked at Tony who was sitting on the edge of the bed, drinking some coffee, and seeming to be on his mobile. He watched him for a bit, examining every detail of his posture, back, the way he was sitting with one arm on his leg, his elbow on his knee propping his head up on his hand, and leaning forward a bit. He seemed stressed, like whoever was on the other end was giving him a hard time, and Loki wanted to comfort but, kept his distance. He didn't know what was going on between them, though he hoped his emotions would pass, Tony probably wasn't gay anyway. He closed his eyes, running his hands through his hair a moment, before looking down to examine his clothing. Still the same, his shirt and vest with little droplets of blood here and there, and the only way to get new clothing was to go back to their dorm. Face Thor, face the hurt, and face the fact that he was more than likely going to be accepted into the military and leave Loki here, alone.

"You son of a bitch," He whimpered softly, gaining Stark's attention for a moment, until he turned back to his phone call.

He let out a shaky breath, quickly looking up to the ceiling and concentrated on not crying, biting some skin off of his lip. He was not ready for this, and there is no way in hell he was going to be able to handle this alone. Could he go to Stark? Could he search for help within that man? He cursed a moment when he realised he found out nothing about who stole the car and that Thor would be leaving today to go down to a recruiting centre. He flinched when Tony began yelling at the other person on the line, standing up and using his free hand to talk, causing the stuff that happened with his former dad rush back to him. Before he could react much more, he exited the room, rather loudly, and headed back to his brother and his dorm. Loki looked at the ground as he walked for pretty much the first time in a while, feeling too upset to keep an eye on where he was going. He realised he had left his blanket back with Tony, so he figured he would return for it after he went to speak with his brother. While he was thinking about his blanket and that man, he didn't watch where he was walking, and ended up colliding with someone, grumbling quietly when he did. He looked up to see who it was, staring eye to eye with his brother, who seemed to have been coming to find him.

"Loki, I'm so sorry," Thor whispered, while attempting to hug him but, Loki stepped away.

"I'm not sure what to say to you, anymore, and I'm not sure if I can accept your apology or not," He inhaled deeply, trying to ignore the pained look on his older brother's face, as he continued. "I came to see if you had any information on who stole the car, and what time you were leaving for recruitment."

He tried remaining as calm as possible, carefully speaking as so Thor wouldn't pick up on how deeply upset he was by all of this. He watched his brother's blue eyes attempt to do what he usually does by running all over Loki's body starting from the face but, smirked slightly when his brother let out a hefty sigh, giving up on copying his "Sherlock" ways. He shifted uncomfortably under Loki's gaze, not really knowing what to say at that point, probably thinking of what to tell him about the car and the recruitment time. Loki was ready to burst into tears at any moment, the stress and heavy-heartedness building up fairly quickly. He swallowed a sour lump in his throat, blinking a few times, and looking away from Thor a moment, trying to relax. He hadn't been aware that a tear fell down his face, until Thor reached out quickly and brushed it away with his thumb. He held his ground, not being the one to run away from confrontations, waiting for him to speak. Just answer me already, please? I don't want your help, I don't want your comfort, I just want you to stay. He grunted softly, still not looking at him, finding something to stare at out of the corner of his eye.

"Brother, please...," He attempted to make Loki listen to him but, Loki wasn't having any of it right now, so he just talked about what his younger sibling requested. "They found out the guys who stole the car were the ones who robbed the bank, Nathan Garrett, under the alias "Black Knight", and Simon Maddicks, under the alias "Killer Shrike". They haven't been arrested, yet, still on the run. I am going to the recruitment building now, that is why I wanted to come find you, to say goodbye, and if I don't come back, I'm sorry. I am joining the Marines, and if they accept me, father is going to put me up in a hotel near the base in Ohio, so I can easily get to where they need me. Remember, we are gods, and gods never die."

Loki stared at him now, eyes revealing all the pessimistic emotions stirring inside, making his voice come out weak and cracking. "No, we are not gods, only the r-reincarnation of them,"

He turned on his heel, trying to block out everything as he left for Stark's room, again. He was on the verge of an emotional breakdown, and he quietly hoped Tony had left, though knowing he didn't. He needed a place to cry, to get away, and to not show emotions around others. That was one of his weak points, he hated showing anything negative to people, always trying to remain strong and composed for others who may need him. Thor was the only one to see him cry besides their mother and father, and as much as he intended on keeping it that way, he just couldn't as he held onto the door knob of the dorm he just left. His hand was shaky, his body about ready to give up if he didn't let the pain out, causing him to almost fall into the door. Thor was now two steps behind him and about to finish the last stride to get his brother back to him, when Loki yanked the door open and went inside, closing it in his brother's face. He listened to Thor's breathing, knowing how much he probably hurt his brother, ignoring the want to go out and see if he was okay, looking down at the ground when he heard him leave and head down the hallway. He didn't see Stark watch him as he slid down the door and onto the carpet, pulling his knees to his chest, and began crying. His eyes were closed, the sobs racking him, head staying up instead of falling forward. He didn't hear him approach or kneel down in front of him, and the only thing he felt was him being pulled toward him, and into his lap. He didn't struggle; he just leant against the man's bare torso, letting the tears fall. Every time he tried to calm down, thoughts of his brother being killed in the line of duty made the pain intensify.

"Loki, you need to breathe," Stark's soothing voice broke through his sobs.

"I-I can't breathe, S-Stark, I can't," He stuttered in response, pressing against him more.

No more words were said as he started rocking Loki; much like the reincarnated god did for him yesterday, tightening his hold around him. From the way he was sitting, he wasn't able to hide his face on Tony, so he half-assed it on his arm. Tony suddenly moved him so he was straddling his waist, facing him, giving Loki the chance to push his face against his neck. He got to the point where nothing fell from his eyes, and he couldn't force anymore to come, so he kind of just shook and made crying sounds, still being held by the future billionaire. Tony trailed his fingers up and down his back, twisting them lightly into the strands of hair that lay against his vest, now moving his fingers in circles around his spine. Loki shivered at the touch, trying to catch up with his breathing to slow it down, relishing in the fact that he did have someone to go to, he did have someone to hold him, and he did have someone who would be there for him. This was another thing he hoped not to make a habit of, showing distress to this person he had mixed emotions for. He eventually calmed down enough so he was just sitting in Stark's lap, holding onto him, chin on his shoulder, staring blankly at the bed since it was the only thing in his line of sight. The man still smelt faintly of Axe and gasoline, and Loki figured it was a smell he could get used to. In fact, the mix of the two together was a bit intoxicating, arousing even. Don't you dare get turned on in his lap, Loki Laufeyson. He scolded himself in his mind, blushing a bit, and pulling back.

"What is Tony short for?" He asked despite himself, overly curious.

Tony chuckled and eyed him a moment before responding, "Anthony."

Anthony, Anthony Stark. Just as he previously thought, a perfect name for a perfect man. No, not perfect, not anything except for irritating; irritatingly gorgeous. He felt like groaning at the internal war raging inside his mind at what he thought of Tony, completely zoning out while looking at him. Every way he trained himself to think, everything he strived to be like, and all of his standards that he held other people to was now crumbling before him. All of it happening because of this fucking man, this man who he hated to love, who he wish never fucked with his feelings like this. He swore up and down that he didn't feel anything for him and if he did, they were just "puppy love" crushes, as the Americans called it. He couldn't be falling for this stupid, loud mouth, self-absorbed, full of himself, all-about-me young adult but, here he was, fighting himself and what he felt. His jaw line perfect, cheekbones beautiful, lips on the smaller side and wonderful, pain filled eyes that he wanted to make happy, cute adorable fucking nose that he just wanted to kiss, hair messy and a bit singed that he wanted to run his fingers through, and heart so broken and damaged that he wanted to fix it. It was only day two of knowing this man, and so far he had held him when he cried, accepted an offer of a ride back to the university, let him fix his broken nose (which still ached, mind you), spent the night in the same bed as him, and allowed him to hold him and hush him while he broke down.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Tony's voice, which seemed a little too amazing in his ears. "As much as I love you sitting in my lap, Loki, you're putting my leg to sleep. By the way, you're gawking."

Loki made eye contact with him, realising how long he had been staring, cheeks turning red and heated. He cleared his throat when the blush scorched his face, and he immediately got off of his lap and stood in front of him, rubbing his neck like one of those anime characters who got caught doing something stupid. He raised his eyebrow when he saw Anthony's signature smirk back on his face, looking up at him, before getting up and standing. Loki looked down to the floor to regain his composure, and once he did, Stark suddenly had him pinned up against the door, hips against his, and lips near his neck below his ear. Blush was back on, more intense before, as Tony got as close as he could, breathing against his flesh, causing Goosebumps to form on his skin. That fucking bastard, just what does he think he is doing? From the dominance the shorter man was showing, he felt himself harden, grunting uncomfortably when Tony pushed his hips against his for a moment, before pulling back and looking down. As if Loki's blush couldn't get any redder, Anthony did the unthinkable and slid his hand up Loki's inner thigh, brushing lightly against his crotch, causing the taller man to let out an ever so slight whimper of pleasure. No, no, no, this is all wrong! Tony was quickly back below his ear, smirk still on his lips, hand gone.

"Mm, you're aroused," He whispered seductively into Loki's ear, making him shiver.


	6. Chapter 6

Anthony pushed away from him, no longer pinning him against the door, eyeing him up and down. Loki gasped, letting out a heavy breath of air, shifting a bit as his hard on pressed into his jeans. He was pretty positive he was not going to let Tony touch him in any way sexually just yet, though he really needed to get rid of this agonising boner that was begging to be touched. He wanted to leave and run off to his dorm to take care of the need but, he didn't want to be around those memories of his brother. He could go to the bathroom, though seeing as how it was public, he wasn't quite sure if he would get away with it or not. He mentally gave himself three options. He could let Anthony take care of it for him, try to ignore it in hopes it would go away, or wait to see if Tony would leave the dorm for a while and he could relieve it here. Judging by the way the man was standing, he wasn't going to be leaving any time soon, so Loki decided to try to go with option B. Grunting in annoyance at how hard he had made him, he figured this was going to be a long wait. Vomit, dead bodies, puppies, kittens, gore, blood, guts. He ran through a list in his head of all the foul - besides animals of course – things he could think of to try to reduce the ever stiff hard on he had but, it only went down a little bit.

"I can help you with that," Tony said, using his head to motion to Loki's crotch.

"Uh, no, that w-won't be necessary," He choked on his words, hoping he didn't sound too aroused.

"You suck at changing your voice. Let me help. I caused it, after all," Stark smirked devilishly, much like this was his plan all along.

Loki sighed, knowing that he was right and that he found out in an obnoxious way that he was at least somewhat attracted to males. He guessed if he had to go with plan A, he had to be glad that his first sexual encounter with another person of the same sex was with him, since he was probably overly experienced. He met Anthony's eyes a moment before looking down to the front of his own skinny jeans, closing his eyes and moving his head up. He stood there silently with his eyes still closed, working on relaxing his whole body and giving in to the fact that he needed Tony to alleviate the pressure in his pants. He opened his eyes, feeling somewhat nervous since only women had serviced him, narrowing his eyes at Tony. He shrugged, moving his arms up slightly before letting them drop to his side, keeping an eye on the supposed genius. Fucking fine, he thought inwardly, somewhat thinking it decreased but, it only went back to a full erection just from staring at him. His perfectly tanned, built body; wonderful looking chocolate brown eyes; still shirtless, now being able to see what was on his chest. Yes, perfect distraction but, he wasn't going to ask about it, it was just something he was intrigued by. A silver metal disk-like object rested in the centre of his chest, still blue, and thrumming almost melodically. From the way it looked, he felt as if it went deeper behind the wall of muscle and possibly bone, sitting directly over his heart. What was that object used for? He almost forgot about Tony helping his now throbbing cock, until he heard him clear his throat, obviously waiting for Loki to give him a response.

"Alright but, make it quick," He whined, though he really wanted Anthony to take things slow, touching him, teasing, bringing him over the edge at his own pace.

Stark was up against him again, back at his neck but, this time, leaving small kisses down it, nipping at the crook of his neck where it met his shoulder. He allowed himself to moan softly, closing his eyes, and tilting his head to the opposite side of him to grant him easier access to his neck, which allowed him to bite a bit hard. His mouth fell agape, Tony's hands rubbing up and down his sides under his shirt; he loved the feeling of his rough hands against his smooth skin. Tony pushed his legs apart a bit with his own, before moving his leg to put his knee between them, and use it to rub against his crotch. The friction nearly sent him over the edge, so he reached around and clawed Tony's back, practically begging to be touched more. The self-proclaimed playboy was now on his knees in front of him, hands moving up and down his inner thighs, forehead resting against his hip. After he felt he had teased him enough, he worked Loki's pants open, tugging them half way down his thighs. He stared a moment at Loki's cock which tented his boxers, much like he was trying to determine if he could take it all in his mouth, before pulling his boxers down to sit above his pants, freeing his nine and a half inch hard on.

Anthony looked surprised for a second, and then seemed to have shaken it off, since he slid his tongue from the tip all the way down to the base, causing the reincarnated god to shiver with pleasure. He whined at the future billionaire, who was now sucking the head teasingly, bucking his hips forward a moment. His mouth was working expertly on him, sucking down half way and back up, and oh my god, Loki's hands shot to grip onto his hair, pushing himself up against the door for support, groaning. Tony was deepthroating, and damn was it amazing; no one had ever done that to him before. He felt him smirk against him, and a few sucks, licks, and strokes had him groaning and releasing hard into his mouth. He apparently swallowed it all, because he stood up with a toothy grin, feeling all too proud of himself. Loki just rolled his eyes, taking a minute to come down from that high, before pulling his pants and boxers back up, going to sit on the bed. He laid back on it, legs dangling over the edge, staring at the ceiling until Tony came over to look at him.

"Told you it would be good," He said, hovering, grinning like an idiot, much that reminded him of his brother.

"No, you didn't," Loki grunted and raised his eyebrow at him, practically scoffing.

"Well, I was right anyway,"

"Anthony?" He asked, sitting up, earning a noise of question back. "What is that thing in your chest, and why is it there?"

Stark looked at him in surprise, like he had never been asked that before, looking down at his chest, eyeing the object. He looked back at him, trying to decide if he wanted to tell the story or not, before grabbing Loki's hand and guiding it to the metal. It was cool to the touch and he could feel the electricity surging through it, and as much as he wanted to pull back, he didn't. It was weird having his hand against something like that; he had never thought something like it was possible. He let his finger trace around the rim, before slipping to touch the sensitive skin around it. Anthony made a face when he did so, so he pulled away, looking up at him. He cast an apologetic glance before looking at the ground, noting that the man had gone to sit beside him. He was desperate to know, so when he spoke, he had his full attention, excitement running through him like a child on X-Mas day. Tony inhaled slowly, leaning back on his arms; gaze back down on the object.

"Well, it's a long story. Last year, when I was nineteen, my dad had me go to Afghanistan to do his dirty work. I was there to show off one of our latest, well his latest weapons, the Jericho. It was a great tool, mind you but, it was extremely deadly. Anyway, I was in a Hummer in a line of them, travelling with some soldiers of ours, when a bomb went off in front of us, destroying the vehicle ahead. Well, when that happened, everyone and their mother naturally ran out to fight whatever was attacking them, and most got killed. Well, they all got killed, so I left out the door and tried hiding. Didn't exactly work because something landed beside me, and I noticed it was a missile from a rocket launcher with the name Stark Industries on it. The enemy had our weapons. It didn't entirely connect at that moment; because I was too busy running away. I wasn't able to get far before it exploded and I was thrown a few feet into the air and landed harshly on the ground. I rolled over onto my back and saw blood basically pouring from my chest," He took a deep breath before continuing.

"I fell unconscious and when I woke, I looked around to find myself in a cave. Naturally, I began yelling and panicking, noticing something in my chest and hooked up to a car battery. Freaking out about it, I tried tearing it out but, was stopped by someone who would eventually save my life for a second time, Yinsen. Apparently I had met this man before when I was on a trip out of the country with my father on business but, I had ignored him. My father did as well, so it wasn't like it was a big deal, it was six years ago. He told me he had taken a lot of shrapnel out of my chest but, there was still some in me, so he hooked me up to the battery to keep the pieces from entering my heart. Eventually I built this item in my chest that kept it from entering my heart, using some plans my father had previously tried to start up, called an arc reactor. That is what is in me now, just a smaller version. Long story short, I escaped, Yinsen didn't, and now here I am today. I've made a promise to myself that when I take over Stark Industries, we are ceasing weapon making and doing something different. Not sure what, though,"

When he finished, Loki looked at him in shock, like he couldn't imagine anyone had gone through that and suffered what he did. Tony seemed to be getting a bit agitated, so he looked away, sighing and lying back again. Damn, that must be hard. He didn't really have any traumatic things he went through, so he couldn't empathise. He wondered if that is why he had that panic attack a couple days ago; probably was since he basically freaked out when something loud banged. He was still fairly unsure of what made the sound but, he made a mental note not to make any loud sounds around him. He obviously has never thought of going to therapy for help with his apparent PTSD and Loki figured if they were going to be around each other a lot, he would eventually help him get through it. He was watching him, apparently waiting for him to say something but, he didn't exactly know what to say at this moment. He heard him sigh and watched as he looked down and began to get up, so he placed his hand on his thigh and moved closer. Anthony stopped, looking at him, and when Loki made eye contact, he saw a world of hurt and pain clouding those beautiful brown eyes he so adored. He reached up and placed his hand against his cheek, sitting up and kissing him ever so softly.

"Anthony, I know it's hard, and it took a lot of courage for you to tell me that, practically someone who is a stranger to you but, you're going to get through this, and you will be okay," He offered, whispering the words to him.

Stark nodded and tried composing himself, letting out a shaky sigh and began chewing on his lip. He suddenly smirked, eyes narrowing, and Loki internally groaned at what he was thinking on doing next. Sex? Something sexual? Asking him out? He was very easy to read but, something told him it wasn't what he was expecting. Usually when people had mood swings like that, they were mentally unstable, with the exception of Anthony Stark. He had a mischievous look to him, like he was about to do one of those "you asked me something personal now I get to ask you something personal" type of things. Ah fuck, what does he want to know? Something about his past wouldn't be too complicated to talk about, or maybe it had to do with how well he was able to read someone. He supposed he would just have to find out, and find out he did in a couple of minutes. He wasn't really ready to tell him his biggest secret which was being a reincarnated god, because he didn't know how he would take it, and the future billionaire would probably think he was psychotic.

"Now that you know something about me, I want to know why you were running down the street with a broken nose and cuts along your face," He told him, looking utterly devious.

Loki froze when he heard what he inquired, feeling the sting from daddy issues hitting a bit harder than he would have liked. Son of a bitch, out of all the things you could have asked, you wonder about that?! He growled lowly, trying to decide if he should lie or tell him the truth, even though he told him his history with the arc reactor. He felt it would be the only respectful thing to do to be open with him about it, since he was willing to divulge into something so personal with Loki. He drew his tongue across his lower lip in thought, white teeth coming over it in a small bite, sighing half-heartedly. He wasn't one to be open with others by all means, and he didn't understand why Anthony needed to know. Again, it wasn't like they were dating or have known each other for long, though his curiosities were fed with the knowledge of the reactor. He grunted and rolled his eyes, shifting uncomfortably, pulling his arms across his chest in a defensive manner. He curled his upper lip in annoyance, running a hand through his hair, shaking his head. The mechanic was just watching him, patiently waiting for his response; looking a little too proud of himself that he asked such a question. Loki decided to play a little game, push him, and just skim over the surface of his issue. He didn't need to know the details, after all, he had only inquired about why he was running, nothing more.

Loki smirked himself, before responding with a quick, "Got slapped across the face,"

It wasn't a lie, nor was it revealing much of anything, and that seemed to aggravate Tony. He watched him stiffen up, seemingly grinding his teeth together, fists becoming a ball. Was he getting defensive over Loki? You have got to be kidding me. Is he crazy or something, he's acting like they were in a full blown relationship! Fuck! This was not his plan when he moved from Norway; he didn't want to get wrapped up in a relationship, and especially not with someone so damned cocky. Things were moving way too fast, and if he didn't set some boundaries, he would find himself boyfriend of Anthony Stark, future billionaire and heir to Stark Industries. Oh wow, that has a nice ring to it. No, no, no, please don't even go there, Loki can't be doing this, he has college to be focusing on and the drama from his brother, the stolen car, and his father to be dealing with. This was definitely not okay on any level of any form of sanity; this was beyond what he believed in and held standards to. As much as he would love to be with him, he just couldn't right now, and he doubted the young adult next to him was ready to commit to something such as dating. He wasn't the type, he was the one to sleep around and never call the next day. The womaniser, the heart breaker, the one everyone vowed that they would eventually win over. This was, this was not going to happen, it couldn't. In the middle of his rant to himself, a voice broke through, and he tuned back into reality.

"Who hit you and why?" Ah, the infamous question he was waiting to hear.

"I asked one question, you asked one question, you don't get to know more,"

"Then ask me something else,"

"We aren't playing twenty questions here, Stark,"

Loki could feel the irritation coming off of him, and what seemed to be the utter desperation to know every little factoid about his life. Well, he would just have to wait, and maybe after a drink – or six – he would open up. That's another one of his weak points, alcohol. Fill him up with some strong stuff, wait a little bit, and out he'd spill with everything you wish to know about anything. Which is why if he does choose to drink, he is picky on what it is, and doesn't let anyone else dictate his consumption. Oh well, Tony wouldn't figure out about that for a while. He first had to figure out that when Loki calls people by their last names in conversations, it means it is done, and not to continue talking. Seeing as how he shut up, he must have picked up on that fairly quickly, or he just noted the snap in his tone when he spoke.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been a week since Thor had told him he was going to sign up for war, and judging by the fact that he wasn't there anymore, he went off to that hotel in Ohio and to the base. He was being trained by mad men to be a mad man, holding a gun and running face first into the heat of the battle he did not belong in. He was chewing anxiously on the end of his pencil in the middle of Professor Romanova's class, thinking about the past few days. His father hadn't heckled him about not going to be in the business class with Thor, or said anything about the car. In fact, he hadn't even so much as received a phone call from the stingy old bastard he just so happened to have called "dad" for the past twenty years of his life. Fuck him for having been reincarnated from Odin Allfather, ruler of the nine realms in Norse mythology. Damn it all for himself being reincarnated from Loki Laufeyson, son of King Laufey who ruled over Jötunheim. He grumbled something in ancient Latin about having to be stuck with such luck in life before the thought of Tony clouded his mind. That boy was trying so hard to get Loki to like him, and by the gods he did, he just needed some space at this moment. Much to Tony's satisfaction, Loki was spending his nights in his dorm, too distressed to sleep in his own.

"Loki!" Professor Natalia snapped, trying to get his attention.

His head shot up and he dropped the pencil to the desk, making eye contact. "Da?"

"I know your brother joined the military recently but, you need to either pay attention in my class, or leave," She didn't mean it menacingly; she was just a strict professor having come from Russia.

He already knew today's lesson and probably the rest of the lessons for the entire semester, so he just nodded, grabbed his pencil, and left the room without a word. She shrugged it off and went back to teaching the others who weren't as profound in Russian as he was. As the door closed behind him and he stepped into the hall, he stood devastated, wishing he could talk to Thor. He felt horrible about the way he treated him, and it wasn't his fault that his dad took him away and sent him off to war. Technically, Thor was legally an adult and therefore didn't have to listen to their father anymore but, when was his older brother the one to disobey? Whatever daddy says goes, and that has how it had always been since they were young. Loki, on the other hand, grew out of it when he hit the teenage years and went through a rebellious phase. He stopped caring what Odin said, and would test his former father by pushing his limits. That got him grounded for four months, and he toned down the attitude and started respecting him more. He was sixteen, then. Thor, being eighteen, was still in the whole, "Odin says to jump, you ask how high" type of thing, being the kiss ass he always was. Their mother would always see the reincarnated thunder god as absolutely hilarious and the reincarnated god of mischief as someone who was level headed and mature beyond his age. He knew she secretly saw him as a favourite, and that is one reason why he hadn't disowned her.

Speaking of Frigga, he needed to pay her a visit, since he hadn't seen her since he moved to the University. She was probably worn out and upset over losing her actual blood to the fighting overseas, and even though he was still alive, she was more than likely acting like he wasn't. He trekked on to the courtyard, passed the young adults who seemed to not have gotten their teenage hormones under control, and over to the parking lot. He stopped dead in his tracks when he surveyed the nearly full lot, sighing to himself, and gripping the bridge of his nose. Car, right. Drama queen Odin is still pissed. He thought for a moment on how he would get home but, he figured he would have to walk. Ten miles wouldn't be too bad, he just wish he wouldn't have to do it. Maybe his knight in shining car would come to the rescue and drive him where he needed to go but, he didn't count on it, so he began the ten mile journey. Naturally, he would have just hailed a taxi but, dear old daddy cut him off, so no such luck.

Five miles into walking, he stopped at a gas station to get a bottle of water. Luckily he had a twenty on hand that wasn't in a card, so he could get a select few things. Scanning the cold area for water, he listened in on the cashier's conversation with two men. He grabbed a hold of a bottle of Aquafina before walking over to the front, watching the three converse. He eyed the man behind the counter, taking in every detail of him, shrugging when he was no person of interest to him. Just a simple guy trying to make ends meet from a low end gas station convenience store job. As he was about to take note of the other two, they were quickly running out before he could read anything from them. One collided with his shoulder, sending him a glare, and as he tried to read his eyes, the guy panicked and fled. It was almost like Loki meant something to him, like it was a big deal that they ran into each other. He went over the files in his head as he approached the counter, setting his bottle on the counter, coming up short in the people they could be. He handed the man the twenty dollar bill before he could ask for it, then listened as he talked.

"Would that be all?" He asked in an average voice, nothing too exciting, and nothing too boring.

"Yeah, uh, who were those guys?" Loki inquired curiously, eyes still glued to the door.

"The ones who just left? They're just some young men who I've been friends with for years. Simon and uh, Nathan," The guy responded, shrugging and giving him the change.

"Thanks," He told him, taking the change, receipt, and water, walking out of the place.

He looked around for the guys, wondering why "Simon and Nathan" sounded so familiar. The only Nathan he knew of was Professor Nathaniel De La Cruz, his literature professor back at the university in Norway. In the split second it took him to realise they were the people who robbed the bank and took Thor's car, they had drove up by him and pointed something his direction. It was a nine millimetre hand gun, and right when he registered what was going on, four shots rang out. He was a bit freaked out, though luckily enough for him, the one with the gun was a poor shot and no bullet hit him to his knowledge. He was frozen in terror, watching them speed off down the road, before the clerk from inside ran out to see what was going on. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he had to use all of his inner strength not to collapse on the ground. Loki gasped and turned his head to look at who it was, relaxing a bit when he noticed it was just the clerk.

"Are you okay, son?" The voice filled his ears and he nodded, walking over and sitting on the curb.

He felt his body begin to go into shock, skin becoming cool and clammy, feeling as if he needed to vomit, and his pupils were dilated. Little did he know a bullet actually had collided with his leg, piercing the skin and going through muscle but, not exiting. Within minutes, an ambulance and fire truck had arrived, and someone was putting a blanket around his shoulders, while someone else was shining a light into his eyes. They gave him a once over and put him onto a stretcher and loaded him into the ambulance. He had stayed relatively calm, only complaining about a pain in his leg, and when they saw blood seeping through his skinny jeans, they took a pair of trauma scissors and cut his pants off. Pressure was applied with bandages and he nearly screamed from the pain while the Paramedic was working on getting an IV into his vein. They dumped both morphine and saline into his body, easing the pain and giving him fluids. He realised in seconds that the person tending to his wound was a fire fighter, and his head fell to the side to stare at the medic who was asking him questions like if he knew where he was, what had happened, and if he knew who the president was. Common questions to assess for any possible brain damage, which he answered all correctly. A pulse ox was put over his finger to monitor his heart along with EKG pads, and a glucose monitor was pricked into his finger to make sure his blood sugar wasn't too low or high, as they sped off to the nearest trauma hospital. Loki narrowed his eyes against the brightness of the lights in the back of the rig, happy that he wasn't feeling much pain anymore due to the pain killer that was administered.

Everything was going so fast that he didn't realise they were at the hospital until he was being unloaded from the back of the ambulance and being wheeled into the waiting emergency room. The paramedic and EMT were explaining that he was a twenty year old male with a gunshot wound to his left leg, no exit wound, and he had gone into shock. He was just staring at everyone and everything as he was quickly rushed into an operating room to remove the bullet or shards if it splintered, and the last thing he heard before he was put under was something about stopping the bleeding before they operated. They successfully extracted five pieces of the bullet and left the other bits in, as they did not need to be removed. There were no complications and he was sewn up perfectly fine, leaving him with a nice scar for the future. The surgery took a total of three hours, and he was brought to a recovery room until he woke. He was laying on a white hospital bed, with white sheets, pillow, in the middle of a white room, and dressed in a white gown. How sanitary. He woke slowly, narrowing his eyes, like he did in the ambulance, against the lights. Couldn't people be respectful enough to turn them off? He groaned, staring straight ahead of him, wondering why it seemed the napkins on the nurse's desk across the way was dancing, and what the hell was that cartoon elephant doing? He sighed, flinging an arm across his eyes, knowing it was just the effects of the anaesthesia messing with his head. Loki was alone in the room, attached to an IV and heart monitor again, listening to the slow beep of his heart and the drip from the saline.

Around ten minutes later, a nurse came in to check to make sure he was doing well, unsure if he had woken up or not. She offered him a warm smile, which he half-ass returned, still not feeling himself. His throat felt odd because of a breathing tube that was led down his throat during the surgery so he could, well, breathe. She checked his papers and marked something on the board on the left side of him, before checking the intravenous line, nodding to him slowly. She hadn't spoken yet, but, he figured she was just busy doing her job. She gave him another smile as she slowly pulled the blanket and his gown back, examining the wound to make sure there was nothing wrong with the sutures. He noted her cherry red hair, soft green eyes, prominent jaw line which was a bit odd for a female of her small size, delicate looking hands which pale green nail polish adorned, and a necklace resting against her chest that had a sapphire in it. He wanted to compliment it, having found it beautiful but, when he opened his mouth to speak, everything came out very raspy. He furrowed his eyebrows, looking at her, clearing his throat and grimacing at the scratchiness of it. She cocked an eyebrow at him as he swallowed and licked his dry lips, watching for a moment before reading his heart monitor.

"I like your neck...necklace," He finally got out, smiling at her somewhat.

She offered him a smile of thanks and ducked out, mentioning something about the doctor coming in soon to check on him. His eyes travelled to the white board that still hung on the wall saying what hospital he was in, his name, the doctor's name – Bruce Banner, the nurse's name – Krista Hokape, something about why he was here (he couldn't make out the chicken scratch), and smiley faces with numbers under them to dictate how he was feeling. Loki nodded to himself, deciding he was at a two, mostly to cover the discomfort he was in from his throat and the stitches on his leg. There wasn't really any pain, just what he described. His eyes moved up to check the date, which was still the same day, June twenty-sixth, 2013. He sighed a bit, adjusting himself so he was half lying on his side, with his legs in roughly the same position. His feet were bare and cold, causing him to shiver and curl up the best he could as to not agitate the stitches. About the moment the doctor came in, he realised how alone in the room he really was. His father wasn't there, his mother wasn't there, Thor wasn't there, Tony wasn't there; wait, why should he care if that kid came? He shook off the thought as he eyed the doctor who approached his bedside and gave him a smile. Why is everyone so seemingly friendly here? If you really wanted to appear friendly, you would hop off the damned Prozac and try to be nice.

"Good evening, Mister Loki Odinson. I am Dr. Banner, and I was the one who performed the surgery on your leg. You're quite a lucky man, the bullet just barely grazed your femoral artery," The doctor told him, looking over the same papers Krista did.

Loki looked at him before correcting with, "Loki Laufeyson, sir,"

He raised an eyebrow at him before apologising, and continuing. "The surgery was successful and you had a good recovery. Granted, it took two hours for you to wake but, that is common for teenagers and people of your age,"

Loki just sighed and nodded, waiting for him to finish with what he was talking about. He noted the brown-grey short hair, average reading glasses, brown eyes that weren't as amazing as Tony's, clad in a purple dress shirt and blue jeans. He let out a soft shaky breath and adjusted himself again, finding himself somewhat attracted to the doctor. He scolded himself as he heard the beeping of his monitor go up, blushing a tad, earning a light chuckle from Bruce. That caused his blush to deepen and the monitor beep faster, and he growled lowly, getting somewhat defensive. He hated when people messed with him like that, and he would have yanked his hair off of his head if he wasn't in a hospital. He wasn't attracted enough to desire anything more than a stare or two; he inadvertently was infatuated with the infamous Anthony Stark. He ran his hand through his hair as he watched Doctor Bruce Banner mimic Krista's actions and mark something on the board, before walking back over to him. He hovered a moment before uncovering him a bit and moving the gown aside like the nurse, examining the sewn bullet hole. He tensed at what he was doing, shooting him a near death glare, grinding his teeth before the doctor stood up and smiled.

"All good, here, you should be able to leave the hospital in a couple days. All though, the police wish to speak to you about the shooting," He nodded to him before leaving, apparently allowing the officers to come in.

A female and male cop both entered, eyeing him and looking him over a moment, nodding slowly to each other. He relaxed so he wouldn't freak them out, waiting for them to bombard him with questions out the wazoo. They were silent as they went over his papers, seeming for it to be a routine with everyone who so much as stepped foot into his room. Of course they wanted to make sure they had the right patient and knowing more about what had happened from professional documents. The woman made her way over to his side and sat in the chair next to him, glancing at her partner who had now taken out paperwork to get his report. She was sitting calmly with an exception to the slight tenseness she had from being an officer. That was expected, she didn't know what could go down, and she had to be prepared. Loki looked over at her gun, Taser, then to her handcuffs, and finally some mace which was almost nearly hidden. It was clever but, not clever enough for the reincarnated god with Sherlock-like ways to be unseen by.

"My name is Officer Burkshire, and this is Sergeant Davidson. We are here to take a report on the shooting that occurred earlier today around noon. Do you recall this incident?" She asked, motioning to her partner.

"Yeah, I was at a gas station getting some water, when I noticed two men around the age of twenty-seven purchasing something. I overheard bits and pieces of their conversation, and when I approached to check out, they saw me and bolted. One ran into me, so when they left, I inquired the attendant about them, and he told me they were Nathan and Simon. The names sounded a bit familiar to me, so I went outside to see if I could find them. Once I realised they were the ones who stole my brother's car, they had pulled around and Nathan shot four rounds at me before speeding off. They were in a blue Nissan LEAF, the license plate number being AEC02105, of Norwegian make," He explained clearly in his American accent which he had been using for a while.


	8. Chapter 8

It was two days later when Loki was released from the hospital, and no one had been to see him. He had kept himself occupied by watching the news, Discovery Channel, and some show about a guy who escaped a mental institution. It was a comedy and he kind of liked it, he just knew none of the actors, and had no clue about the name. He had phoned Anthony to come pick him up at the hospital he was staying at, thankful that they had exchanged numbers the day before he got shot. He could have texted but, figured phoning was easier, especially since chat speak drove him up the wall. He sighed and groaned in aggravation when Anthony had basically flipped his shit, hanging up on him before the supposed genius could ask about what had happened. He was sitting in a wheel chair outside with nurse Hokape behind him, waiting patiently for Anthony to arrive to take him back. He only had a shirt, so they told him just to keep the gown and not worry about it. The EMS kind of cut off his pants, so he was left in boxers which he was finally allowed to put on, and the gown. He raised his eyebrow when the silver Audi R8 sped up beside him and came to a halt, and he listened to Krista sigh.

He watched the future billionaire close his door and rush over to him, practically throwing himself on top of him in an awkward hug since he was still in the chair. He put his hands on his chest and pushed him away while Krista braced the chair so he wouldn't go anywhere. Loki made eye contact and flinched when he saw panic in Anthony's beautiful eyes as he looked him over to make sure nothing too bad happened. He looked exhausted, like he had been up the past two days worrying, more than likely about him. Why didn't you just call? Maybe he was giving him some space, or thought he went out somewhere. He couldn't be angry at the poor thing; he also noted the redness of his eyes like he had been crying. He sighed and stood up, nodding a thank you to Krista who wished him well and went back inside. He grabbed onto Stark's shoulder for support, leaning into him a bit when they started walking over to the car. He opened the passenger side door for him and he slid in, wincing at the pain in his leg, clutching the prescription for pain killers in his hand tightly. They ordered Percocet for him to take to help alleviate the pain caused by the bullet wound. It was nice, better than Vicodin, and stronger than others he usually would have lying around the dorms. Suddenly, Stark slammed the door closed, causing him to nearly jump out of his seat, still spooked from being shot. How wonderful that it had to sound exactly like a gun firing in his direction. He was near hyperventilation when Anthony came around to the driver's seat and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You okay, Loks?" The self-proclaimed genius, billionaire, playboy asked. Well, he wasn't a billionaire yet but, he still felt the need to add it into the list.

"Yeah, fine," said Loki.

"So, when were you planning on telling me you were in the hospital?"

"When you bothered to call,"

The last line he snarled at Anthony came with a glare, before he turned to stare out the window beside him. The car ride back to the University was silent, tension that was thick enough to slice with a knife hung in the air between the two. Normally, Loki wouldn't be acting like this and be angry with someone who didn't show up somewhere but, when they had the audacity to claim it being his own fault, he wanted nothing more do to with them for the time being. His parents, they haven't presented him with an excuse yet, so he was still on good terms with them. He flexed his hands in anger, resting his head on the window with a loud thunk, staring out the windshield with a stern look on his face. He ignored everything Anthony was saying to try to start a conversation, smacking his hand away when he brushed his thigh, and pressing himself up against the door. They eventually made it back, Loki storming off to the dorm with Anthony behind him, trying to get him to lighten up. He was having none of it but, turned around when an apology was offered. The pale man accepted it before going back to his journey to the dorms, opening the door to Stark's and heading in.

Loki was sitting on the bed in the dorm, head in his hands. He had just waked from an almost peaceful sleep to remember the events that happened last night and day. He got home from the hospital after a rather tense encounter with Stark who brought him back, called his mum to fill her in on what had happened, listened to her cry and want to see him tomorrow, glared at Stark who offered to take him to a party, sighed at him when he walked out to go to said party after Loki refused, and fell asleep around ten pm. Judging by the empty bed beside him, Anthony hadn't come home all night and was probably passed out on the couch of wherever he was. He pulled his mobile out of his pocket to see no new messages or calls, and read the time which was eleven am. He slept for a good thirteen hours, haven been given more time off from school in order to recover from his wound.

As he was checking the stitching and getting prepared to take a shower, he heard the door open and looked up to see Stark stumble in looking like he was beat by Lucifer himself, if he were to have existed. Loki immediately ran - more like fast walked - up to him, hands flying to his cheeks to hold his jaw and chin. He examined him closely, looking at the black eye that was forming quite nicely, busted lip, a seemingly deep imprint from an expensive ring on his cheek, swollen and puffy jaw line, and when Anthony opened his mouth to speak, Loki noticed a missing tooth that looked like it had been freshly knocked out, probably from the blow to the side of his face. His teeth were covered in blood, much to be expected, and his nose had a nice gash to accommodate the rest of the wounds. Loki looked down at his arms to notice what looked to be cigarette burns on the flesh, and a welt on his upper arm near his shoulder that was barely peeking out from his sleeve. Panicking, he turned Anthony around and lifted his shirt up to see a bruising welt in the shape of a belt going from his lower right thoracic region leading to his upper left thoracic area. He dropped his shirt down, listening to him hiss, before pulling the hurt man over to the bed and kneeling in front of him.

"Anthony, what the hell happened to you?" He demanded; worry flooding over him like a terrible rain.

"I'll tell you if you tell me why you were in the hospital," Anthony countered, looking down at him.

"For fucks sake, Stark, we are dealing with you right now!" He growled lowly, locking his gaze with the engineer before him.

"My dad and I got into a fight. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is, you're a bleeding mess and you have a belt lash on your back. Now fucking tell me what happened or I am walking out of this dorm and never coming back,"

He knew his threat meant nothing but, he had to do what he could to get Anthony to speak. Over the past week and three days, he was slowly getting closer to this man, despite his whole big idea of things going too fast. They shared a few kisses here and there, maybe cuddled when they slept but, nothing sexual since they had oral sex. He assumed his past ideas didn't matter anymore, and he would just give something new a try. What more crap could he go through that he wasn't already in the middle of? His father blamed him for getting the car stolen, hit him, called him fat - which he doesn't honestly care about, cut him off for a month, his brother went off to training, and he got shot in the leg. Being with Stark couldn't be too much of a hassle; he was prepared for a lot of things, especially since he was a reincarnated god and was pretty dang good with therapy. He looked over the genius once more, concluding that it was more of a one sided fight with the younger Stark coming out as the loser and could be considered abuse. He sighed, sitting back so he was on the ground, moving his legs to rest "Indian Style", as he waited for his story. His friend rolled his eyes a moment before he began telling him what he was itching to know.

_Anthony had just left a stubborn Loki back at his dorm, shrugging off the fact that he didn't want to spend time with him at a party. It wasn't his fault, he was planning on going there for a few days now, and he thought the man was angry at him so that is why he wasn't around. He felt bad for not calling him but, he seemed to be a bit of a diva at times, at least from Stark's prospective and he didn't want to get drama riled up. He walked down the hallway of the dorm building and headed out, going off to his beautiful Audi R8 baby, slipping into the driver's seat and rubbing the steering wheel. He smirked before buckling his seat belt, closing the door, and driving off to said party. Sunglasses, you ask? He put them on before he had left Loki behind. It took about thirty minutes to get where the fun was located, pulling up to an average size house that was surrounded with other cars. Some people standing around on the lawn watched him as he walked up to the door, letting himself in, since he knew the person hosting. He grabbed a blonde busty woman around his age by the arm, locked them together, and took her over to the host, smiling._

_"'Ey, Tony! Glad you can make it! I see you've met Alice," He greeted, winking, to which Anthony just chuckled._

_"I guess I have, Daulton," He winked to the woman now known as Alice, and let go of her arm, watching her scamper off to her friends to gossip about how she was right up against famed Anthony Stark._

_"You want some Mary Jane? Fresh out of alcohol, my brother," Daulton offered, speaking remorsefully._

_"Out of alcohol? Damn, that's a shame. Uh, I'll take the beautiful lady, though," He laughed, referring to the drug. _

_Daulton led him into a room full of smoke from other people who were getting high off of marijuana in bongs and blunts, blinking a few times until his eyes adjusted to the burning feeling from the smouldering pot. He cocked an eyebrow as he was pushed down onto a couch next to some guy and girl, having a bong pushed between his legs. He smiled and reached down but, before he could pick it up enough to take a hit, it was pulled from him by the guy next to him and he gave him a giant blunt instead. Anthony just shrugged, putting his mouth to it and inhaling deeply, coughing a bit as he held the smoke in his lungs. He held it in for a few before blowing out, smiling when he felt the effects of the cannabis working its way into his brain. After a good two hours of smoking, he was nicely stoned, lying back with a person draped across his lap laughing at something someone was doing in the middle of the room. He just watched the smoke fly around his face with a giant grin, eyes half closed, chuckling every so often. He was suddenly dragged off the couch and out of the room with no thought to the person on his lap who fell to the ground with a thud, watching him being pulled away._

_"Tony, man, I have the munchies. We gotta get some...pizza," Daulton muttered, swaying a bit as he held onto him._

_Stark just nodded and fished his mobile out of his pocket, ringing up the nearest pizza place. He ended up ordering ten pizzas to accommodate the party-goers and their hunger, along with eight two litre bottles of Coca Cola and Pepsi. When the pizza man arrived, Anthony tried his best to act sober, narrowing his eyes at the man and taking the food and drinks, setting some down on the floor before taking others. He handed the man a one hundred dollar bill, telling him to keep the change and the tip. The guy looked shocked and happy as he walked back to his car, and Anthony let out a giant yell to announce they had food. He ate about six and a half slices and downed a litre of soda, almost passing out on the ground. Daulton kicked him in the side gently to wake him up when he was almost out, telling him it was two o'clock in the morning. Anthony groaned, still high, sitting up and figuring he should go back to the dorm. He gave him a hug, stumbled out of the house, and walked down the driveway, looking around at the dark street, give or take a streetlight or two. As he headed down the road, completely forgetting about his car, a vehicle with flashing lights pulled up behind him. He stopped and turned around to see it was a police cruiser with an officer heading toward his direction with a flash light._

_"Sir, are you alright?" The man asked, approaching with caution._

_"Sss-yeah," Anthony replied, putting his hand over his eyes to shield the light from the flashlight._

_"Are you high, tonight, sir? What is your name?" The officer asked, moving closer._

_"Jack Dawson and I am from the RMS Titanic!" He laughed, swaying back and forth._

_"Where do you live, son? You don't look to be older than seventeen. I will let your parents take care of you. Consider yourself lucky that I am not having you booked in jail tonight," The officer asked him, in which he gave the address of his parent's place._

_Before he knew it, he was being handcuffed and loaded into the backseat of the car, the door closing behind him. He stared up at the gate that separated the front and the back for police protection, watching the cop begin to drive away. He always had looked young for his age and he was thankful for that right about now. He decided it was better to just tell them his parent's address instead of the university, worried about what Loki would think if he came back under the influence of drugs. He figured the cop knew from his potent smell of marijuana, grumbling to himself as the officer took him to the place he was given. The car stopped and he went around to the back to let him out, helping him stand to his feet, and closing both doors behind him before walking the young prodigy up the driveway and to the house. The man who had a hold of him still, knocked harshly on the door and waited for someone to answer. A person did, his father, overly drunk by the way he was acting and his smell, eyeing both of them. Howard backed up a bit at the smell of his son, blinking a moment because of the contact high. He glared a moment at him before the cop spoke, directing his attention to the man._

_"This kid here says he lives with you, is that correct? He would not give me his name, sir," The law enforcement official explained, looking from Howard to Anthony and back._

_"Y-yeah, that's my...uh...s-son," Howard muttered, eyes back on Anthony who had a smug look on his face._

_"I found him walking the streets, higher than a kite, at two o'clock in the morning. I decided you should take care of it, seeing as how you are the father, and he just made a mistake. He doesn't need this on his record," _

_"I...I'll ta-take it from here," _

_"Have a nice night, sir," _

_The handcuffs were removed and Anthony pushed past his dad and into the house. Once the door closed and the cop gone, Howard shoved him back. Anthony wasn't exactly sure what was going on, so he playfully batted at his father, who seemed fairly enraged at the fact that he was here and high. Maria was asleep upstairs, so he couldn't run to her for help if things got to be too much. He always hated bothering her when his father and him got into a dispute, and would usually tell her about it later after things cooled down. Howard had only gotten violent with him once before, having shoved him into a wall to yell at him. Nothing escalated from there into something worse, just yelling and a punishment of being grounded for two months for shoplifting. He was completely sober, at that time. Howard's fist collided with his face, the ring on his finger digging into the skin, and Anthony bent over, spitting a tooth onto the carpet, along with some blood. Finding himself getting angry, he ran at his dad, almost knocking the two of them over, landing a punch to his side. He was suddenly pinned against the ground and his father started beating on his face, earning him a black eye, split lip, and cut up nose. He pushed him off, groaning and kicking him in the leg, trying to run off into his bedroom. As he had his back turned, he heard what sounded like a buckle being released from its hold, and a whip-like noise cutting through the air. The pain that followed caused him to fall to his knees and cry out, hand flying to his shoulder to grab onto the currently forming welt. Howard had hit him with his belt, something he never expected him to do._


	9. Chapter 9

_"You fuckin' s-son of a b...b...bitch, how dare you use drugs-s," The man stuttered, walking off up stairs, leaving him to sit there, hurting. _

_Anthony managed to get to bed, lying down onto the mattress and sheets on his stomach, gripping the blanket and groaning. Eventually he passed out, falling into a dreamless slumber, trying to ignore the fact that he hurt everywhere. He woke up around ten am, pushing himself up off the bed and rubbed his eyes. He immediately regretted doing so as the pain from his black eye rocketed through his face, causing him to hiss and get up. He staggered out of his room, finally sober, heading down the stairs and out the front door. His parents were nowhere to be found, and the bright light killed his eyes but, he kept walking until he reached his friend's house. Luckily he was only a block away, so he didn't have to walk far. His stomach growled and the birds sang, offering an odd sound to his ears as he moved. It was a nice day with a fair covering of clouds, allowing the sun to shine through with only a few rays. Anthony figured it would rain later, so he picked up speed until he reached his baby. He greeted it like it was alive before getting inside and leaving back to the dorm. _

Loki looked at him in shock, getting up, turning around and grabbing a rag off the dresser, quickly pushing it onto his bleeding lip which had reopened. He felt he didn't have the place to ask about the cigarette burns, since Anthony decided to leave it out, and would just hope he would talk to him later. Ten to one it was his dad's fault but, he wasn't sure where it fit into his story. He frowned when the man flinched against his touch, rubbing his leg as he cleaned the rest of his face off. The black eye would need some ice, in which he did not possess currently, so he stood up and examined him a moment. He had nothing from experience to compare to him being beaten, so empathy was coming up a bit short handed. He sighed, tossing the rag onto the bed, sitting next to him, resting his head on his shoulder. He watched as Anthony grabbed onto his hand, entwining their fingers together, noting the rough calluses against his hand, admiring the way the tan accented his pale skin. He didn't feel as if he should pull away, he just kept an eye on the damage to Stark's face. They still were not in a relationship and Loki wasn't sure when they would be in one, if at all. He really did like the man but, he was afraid the notorious "playboy" would quickly change to someone else and leave him behind. It wasn't hard for the man he was staring at to just ditch a relationship, and Loki felt he didn't need to be hurt when that time came, even though he knew it would hurt him worse than anything.

The pale reincarnation sighed and pulled his hand back, getting up and walking to the door, resting his hand on the wood for a moment before exiting the room and heading down the hall to go get ice, lost in his own thoughts. The moment he reached his old dorm with Thor, he looked up and the familiar ache that he had been running from pierced through his beating organ in the centre of his chest, causing him to gasp like he had been stabbed. He looked up in sadness, tears forming in his eyes, eyeing the plaque that read _Odinson_ so proudly. His hand reached for the door knob, and when he gripped it, he pulled harshly away, realising he almost went inside. That was something he would have to conquer another day, and more than likely with Stark. He felt like he could do anything with that future billionaire and he wasn't sure if he liked it. I mean, they were enemies at a point, right? Screw everything, screw what he trained himself to be, screw all his morals he built his life upon because that _fucking_ man is just coming in and ruining it all. Their relationship would turn out to be a Hollywood tragedy, and he knew it. His green eyes flickered up and down the door to his old dorm a moment before he turned and finished walking down the hall and continued his journey for ice.

When he finally got what he was going for, he returned to the dorm with Stark and saw him lying on his back, still shirtless, staring up at the ceiling, one leg bent, and on his mobile. _Typical_. He couldn't expect much more from the son of a philanthropist. As he shut the door behind him and approached, he realised Anthony hadn't noticed him, yet, and seemed to be too engrossed in his call, so Loki leant against the dresser and listened to what was being said. He smiled slightly at the way Anthony's lips moved as he spoke, the way his eyes narrowed as he seemed a bit annoyed, the laugh that came from his throat which was followed by his signature smirk. His eyes trailed down his neck and noted each vein that protruded underneath his tanned skin, down his shoulder to his collarbone, on to his arc reactor and down his stomach to stop at the button of his pants. He thought for a moment about how that reactor was the only thing keeping the man from death and how much that saddened Loki to realise that if it weren't there, he would be gone forever. Loki looked down at his own hands, one forming a fist around the bag of ice, and the other resting just beneath it. He focused on his long fingers and almost _perfectly_ manicured nails, and suddenly wished Anthony's hand was in his again. He longed to put his hand to the shorter man's to compare them, then fold his fingers down in between Stark's to hold it, share a kiss, then cuddle and talk about their days. That seemed so far away. He listened to the conversation the self-proclaimed playboy was having with someone but, alas, conversations are hard to pick up on when you only hear one side.

"No, yes. You can do that. No! That will destroy the-. I know. Stop talking and just let me,"

Long pause. Heavy sigh.

"Justin knows nothing, he thinks he will be such a big shot with his Hammer Industries some day, no dad, no, just please, let me talk. He's just a stupid kid. I'm _not_ a kid, dammit!"

He sat up, yelling the last line, and Loki flinched.

"Fucking hell, Howard. Why is everything always so, no, just leave me alone, and don't call again,"

Loki cleared his throat as Anthony hung up the call, and smiled softly as his gaze turned to look at the other person in his room. He turned on the bed and swung his short legs over the edge and rested his elbows on his knees, pushing his face into his hands, grumbling about the pain that it caused to do so. Loki chuckled and approached, setting the ice on the bed and kneeling in front of him again. He was surprised the cubes hadn't melted much in the time he spent standing there but, then again, being a reincarnated god had its perks. He could keep things cold just using his hands, though it was an acquired skill and can't really do much more than that. He couldn't shoot ice beams from his finger tips, he couldn't turn things into ice just by touch, he could only keep things cool or cool them down; don't think he will be putting his hands into fire just to put them out, he isn't fireproof. Anthony peeked up at him, giving him a small smirk, and sighed as the other took the ice and pressed it gently to his eye to help keep the swelling down. Stark took over, holding it to his face, reminding him of Odin, making him grimace and want to punch something. He held back though, just for Anthony's sake, so he wouldn't have to explain his daddy issues to someone who has more daddy issues then he could imagine.

The poor thing, he really didn't deserve any of this, he was just a loose cannon trying to make his father proud of him, showing he could actually do something in this world. Loki knew he could, Tony knew he could, Howard knew he could, Maria knew he could, and everyone in the universe knew he could, he just had to fight tooth and nail to gain the respect he so truly desired from his father. He just wanted to be wanted, to be needed, to be cared about, to be loved, and to be told he did matter. Loki could read certain aspects of the person in front of him; it wasn't too hard, all things considered. He knew Howard hadn't meant to beat his son; he just wanted him to be the best he could be, and tried guiding him in the right direction in the wrong way. Alcohol makes a person do stupid things that they could and would regret, and abuse happens to be one of them. Loki was thankful he wasn't too violent when it came to anything, so even if he were to get wasted beyond seeing and thinking clearly, he wouldn't strike a fly. One of the main reasons he hates to drink besides not being able to keep his mouth shut about his life, is not having control of his most important organ, his brain. His brain was his strong point, the thing he relied on the most, the one thing most people just regard as something that needs to be there to sustain human and animal life. His intelligence, personality, files on almost _everyone_, ability to deduce people's lives, and everything else he is proud of is packed away safely in that mass of nerveless matter. It wasn't entirely nerveless, though, brains just lack pain nerves. It may be the part that receives the signals to let which part of the body know that it is experiencing discomfort or hurt but, it feels no pain itself.

Anthony brought him out of his thoughts when he nearly kicked him in the face by trying to lie on his back like before, and hissed as the welt from the belt came in contact with the sheet. Loki frowned at that, not wanting him to be in pain but, unsure how to help. He could offer some pain pills, though he was pretty sure Stark would be too cocky to agree to succumb to medication to ease the stinging and throbbing. He stayed in his kneeling position until Stark motioned for him to join him, so he stood up and somehow managed to climb over the short engineer and lie beside him, giving his wounds a once over. There wasn't much to say, all though Loki was fairly curious as to what had went down between him and his father. Anthony gave him a famous smirk before pulling him close, much to Loki's dislike, and gave him a soft peck on the lips. He was treating this like a relationship, and Loki didn't think he could stress enough that it wasn't what it was. Yes he wanted it, yes it would be amazing to be with him but, he was fucking _terrified_ to be with him. He didn't want him to go off with some skimpy girl at a bar or club and get a quick fuck, or have a one night stand with some guy. He wanted to have Anthony all to himself, and it sounded mighty selfish but, that is what he craved. Sue him for wanting a working relationship with someone that seemed to never do anything but drink and sleep around. Why did things have to be so complicated? He nearly purred when Stark's fingers made their way into his hair and ran through his locks gently, and for the first time since he got back from his ice trip, he made eye contact. Tony's eyes were full of many emotions ranging from lust to hurt to anger to longing. Loki sighed softly and brought his hand over to rub Stark's cheekbone that wasn't bruised for a moment, about ready to give in to whatever the genius wanted. Sex was still off the table; he wouldn't let anyone enter him and take control of him in that way, just yet. Maybe he was still a virgin in that way and maybe he wanted Stark to be the one to change that.

"You know what would be awesome? If you dated me. You could be Loki Laufeyson, boyfriend to genius, billionaire, playboy, Stark. The better looking Stark," Anthony mused, using his hands to make an arc in the air, as if he was trying to show Loki the future.

Loki realised he had just basically asked him out, so he exhaled sharply and stared at the ceiling. What would his answer be? If it was yes, he would be in a relationship with the man he was terrified to get close to, something he'd probably enjoy but, would go against everything he was. If he said no, he would lose the opportunity to be with him, and he could just say fuck it to spending time with him and hurt the heart he so longed to mend. An internal war raged in his brain as he tried to figure out what he was going to do, until he decided that life is too short not to take risks, and would agree to go with him for however long that would be. He looked over at Anthony who seemed to be waiting for him to say something, so he blew upward, making his hair move a bit, and went back to staring at the ceiling. If he truly got into this, he would have to make sure he wasn't close, wasn't attached, and was ready to be left or cheated on. Was it even worth it? He knew he wanted a relationship but, everything he believed in just screamed no. He grunted, seeing something out of the corner of his eye, looking over to see Stark smiling. A real smile, no bullshit, no award winning stuff, just a pure actual smile, and Loki almost died of shock at that very moment. He was smiling at him, something Loki never thought he would honestly see.

"Alright, alright, I agree," He gave in, watching Anthony's smile turn from a small one to a huge grin.

Damn it, damn it all, the genius got his way again, and now Loki was in a relationship of sorts. He swore in that very second, Stark would have jumped on him and gods knows what he'd do then. Loki sat up, stretching forward before ever so gracefully sliding off the bed and onto his feet. He remembered he wanted to shower, so therefore, he was going to, no matter what. In the second that he took a step, arms wrapped around his waist and a forehead was placed against his lower back, with a murmur of _don't go_, in which Loki just stood still. He was really itching for that shower and a change of his bandage for his gunshot wound, so he attempted moving forward, which only tightened the grip on him. He rolled his eyes and kept advancing, far enough to drag Stark off the bed with a loud _thump_ and a grunt to follow. His leg was immediately held onto, so he looked down with one eyebrow raised, and a hand on his hip. Anthony was looking up at him with the most adorable puppy dog eyes he had ever seen, and if the man's eyes could go any bigger, he would have sworn he was an anime character. His green eyes met those beautiful brown eyes, so he gave in, and bent down to hoist the smaller man up by the arm that wasn't injured. He had to chuckle when Anthony stuck out his lower lip in a pout, and shook his head when that lip managed to push out even further.

"You're annoying, you know that?" He teased, sighing with a smirk of his own.

"The most annoying ever. Now, explain to me where you were going, Loks," Tony snickered, using that nickname he seemed to enjoy.

"Shower? Ever heard of it?" He retorted, rolling his eyes again.

"I don't want you using the dorm showers, come on. I have an apartment we can use,"

"Of course you do,"

He followed Tony out of the room, since he decided he needed to rush out into the hall. Loki grabbed one of his bandages before he left, trailing behind his now boyfriend, like a lost dog. _Why would Stark not want me to use the dorm showers? It's not like the water is acid or anything._ He huffed and kept following him until they got outside, where he came to a halt and covered his eyes against the blinding sun with a groan. Three pm sun doesn't do well for a man without sunglasses, especially when that man is a reincarnated frost giant god who has a dislike for overly hot things, unless that thing was Anthony Stark. He dragged his hand down his face, narrowing his eyes, to watch Anthony walk off to his beautiful car and come back in an instant, pulling up in front of him. Loki scoffed and got in the passenger's side, barely having time to buckle in and close the door before Tony was speeding off. _Holy shit_. Loki's nails clawed into the seat belt and arm rest, holding on much like a cat as they reached speeds of 120mph. His face paled – worse than normal - and he felt like his body drained of everything that a body was supposed to have; his eyes wide for a moment before snapping shut, breathing coming quickly. He was sure they would get into an accident but, instead, they screeched to a halt in front of an apartment building, and Loki managed to open his eyes. He still didn't let go of the car, looking up at the giant housing complex to the side of him. He had seen it before, of course, and for once he was almost certain it _wasn't_ Stark owned. He could easily count twenty stories as he gazed in awe, quietly wondering why he was so mesmerised by it, considering that was all New York consisted of; tall buildings. At least, that was all Loki had really seen of New York.

"You can retract the claws, now, kitty," Tony said with a laugh, causing the pale man to quickly release the car and glare at him.

"Why do you stay in a dorm when you can practically live anywhere you want?" Loki asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"The media has to know I am interested in the school. Plus, it's easier to live there than an apartment,"

"Yeah, because you're all for the simple, cosy, easy life,"

Tony just laughed and exited the car, walking up to the building's entrance. Loki sighed before following and looking back at the vehicle, wondering for a split moment why he wasn't in a parking space, then remembered he is Anthony Stark, so he could park wherever he wanted to. He entered the apartments behind Anthony, stopping suddenly when his feet landed on the tile. He stared around in sheer awe, looking at the granite flooring, marble columns that reached into the marble ceiling, expensive white furniture, a chandelier that looked like it could have been easily made out of diamonds, men walking around in thousand dollar three piece suits, walls made out of some other expensive material, and a desk in the centre that seemed to be made out of walnut wood. He suddenly felt out of place, moving quickly to hide behind Anthony, which really wasn't that much cover, since he was taller than the genius. Tony chuckled at his sudden movement as he approached the desk, smiling at the woman behind it. Loki thought for a moment that he was going to be introduced to her until Stark veered off to the left and went down a hallway that contained elevators. Loki practically squeaked when the elevator opened and let some people out, following Stark in and eyeing the fact that the walls were made out of mirrors. They stayed silent in the machine that took them upward to the twentieth floor, and Loki could have sworn they were in a hotel. Only the best for the son of Howard Stark, of course, since they were too rich for their own good.

Anthony ended up grabbing his hand and leading him down yet another hallway until they reached a door, which Loki figured had to be the apartment. 221 was the number on the door, and Loki scoffed at the fact that it was Sherlock Holmes' place in London, save for the letter "b" after it. He shook his head as they went in, still being tugged along by Tony. If he could, he would have stopped again to gawk at the living arrangement but, he was dragged into a bedroom and into a bathroom. _Oh no, he's not thinking on showering with me, is he? Just because we're dating_... His thought was cut off by being handed a towel and being left alone. He figured this was a penthouse as he looked around the bathroom. He would have loved to describe it mentally but, he was itching to shower, so he set the plush red towel on the black granite countertop and undressed once he made sure the door was shut. He had no need to lock it, hoping to whatever gods were out there if they even existed, that he would be able to have a peaceful time. When he turned around, he raised both eyebrows at a Jacuzzi off to the side, and wondered how someone even managed to get one of those into an apartment. He shrugged it off and stepped into the shower, looking curiously at the knobs in front of him. He was confused as to how to work it; annoyed that it didn't have anything indicating which is hot and which is cold. He shrugged and took his chances with the one on the right, turning the handle to let the water flow out. It ended up spraying into his face and down his body, causing him to practically scream and quickly shut it off.

"Holy shit, that was _cold!_" He yelled, shivering and clinging to the handle used to assist people when they needed to stand up.

He blushed and heard a laugh from somewhere inside the apartment, signalling Anthony had heard him. He grumbled to himself and turned on the second knob slowly this time, hoping it was the hot water. Indeed it was, and as the water slowly came onto him, he sighed in sheer bliss. He let the water cascade down his raven coloured hair and his pale as snow skin for a moment, relishing in the warmth it brought. One would think by the way he was acting that he hadn't showered in a year but, it had only been a few days, since he didn't feel like doing so in the hospital. As he reached for the shampoo, he noticed it was scented cherry blossom, and he _snorted_ at the fact that he would have such a scent. Probably for the many women he had over who needed a quick wash after a night of sex, since there was some Axe brand shampoo over in the corner. He grabbed the cherry blossom one, squirting it into his hand and staring at the clear substance in his palm for a moment before washing his hair with it. He inhaled the smell deeply, feeling almost calmed by it, rinsing it out and looking around for the conditioner. Of course Loki needed that, he liked when his hair felt soft, and that was the best way to get it feeling like that. He hummed a tune as he found the matching conditioner, kneading it into his locks. He smirked when he found the purple soap bar, smelling it a moment to see that it was lavender. It would have been awkward to smell someone's soap if it hadn't been a new bar. He quickly took care of washing his body, than rinsed out the conditioner and stood under the water for a bit more, shutting it off and stepping out. He grabbed the towel and dried off, wrapping it around his waist as he stared at the clothes he left on the floor. A shirt and boxers, and he remembered he hadn't changed since he left the hospital, except for discarding the gown in Anthony's dorm. Another blush scorched across his face, deeply this time, as he realised he walked around in front of people with only that on.

He scooped up his clothes and opened the bathroom door, looking around the bedroom and noticing Anthony sitting on the bed on a laptop. He looked up as Loki entered, smirking to himself when he saw him only in a towel, setting the laptop aside and approaching. Loki glared at him as he eyed him up and down, clutching the end of the towel in his hand and trying to maintain eye contact. There was no way he was getting anything sexual out of the reincarnated god or anything else except for a kiss or two. It's not that he hates sex of any sort, he just doesn't want their relationship to be centred around that; he actually _wanted_ it to work out. He sighed and put more weight on one leg as he stood, not looking away, until Anthony turned and went to the wooden dresser against the wall. For once, Loki didn't know what type of wood it was made out of, so he went and sat on the soft bed in his towel as Anthony rummaged through the clothing. Eventually he pulled out a faded black AC/DC shirt and tossed it to him, followed by black boxers and white skinny jeans. Stark didn't look the type to wear skinnies but, before he got a chance to ask, Stark told him not to bother. He walked out of the room, leaving Loki to get changed, in which he did quickly. He stared at his previous clothing and the towel, unsure what to do with it, until he noticed a hamper in the corner of the room. He moved to it, pulling the top off and stuffing the clothes in it, and walking off to find the inventor.


	10. Chapter 10

One month had passed since their adventure to Anthony's apartment, and he hadn't so much as received a phone call from his brother. He knew he was already deployed to Afghanistan since his mother rang him up and filled him in on what was going on. He sat at a cafeteria table in between Steve and Anthony, staring blankly at the food in front of him. He had no appetite whatsoever but, the food seemed to be taunting him to eat it. Loki picked at the mashed potatoes, groaning quietly and resting his head on Tony's shoulder. Steve eyed the two out of the corner of his eye when Tony wrapped an arm around his side, and Loki shot him a glare. He had eventually befriended the jock, finding it relatively easy all things considered. He knew the guy was a good little Christian boy who thought being gay was a sin but, he kept his mouth shut when it came to Stark and Loki. Clint was sitting across from them, and as he had guessed when he first met him, he was an archer. He was actually attending the university for archery; Loki didn't even know there was such a class until it was mentioned. Clint and Anthony were deep in conversation about something to do with pop culture and/or parties. He closed his eyes and thought about the last time he spoke to Odin, realising it hadn't been since he was hit by him. He pushed himself more into Anthony's side, gaining his attention long enough to be kissed on the head before going back to conversing with Clint.

He huffed and stared at Steve who was busy eating and staring at people who walked past. His mind went somewhere else, thinking about school and the fact that there were only a few months left of this semester. Even though it was only the middle of February, the school only had three more months until it was complete for this year. For some reason, they barely got any snow this year, and it wasn't as chilly as usual, as he had heard from other people. He was still fairly new to the country, so he didn't know the weather patterns or if it did snow in New York. He was doing pretty decent in class, having been acing everything that was put in front of him. His two professors were impressed by the fact that he was doing so well, and earlier, Clint had mentioned that it was _very_ hard to impress Natalie. He found it a bit odd that he would call her Natasha or Professor Rushman at times but, he ended up shrugging it off and going about his day. He was still pretty down about Thor leaving him for the war, and he hadn't entered their dorm since the day before he left, even though all of his things were in there. He frowned, still staring at Steve, who somehow, didn't notice. He shook his head and looked up at Anthony for a moment, watching him talk.

Their relationship was far from a secret, since all Anthony seemed to do was follow him around, take him to places, kiss him, and everything in between. Not many people were surprised though, seeing as Stark had a reputation for getting with everyone but, what they were shocked by was that they were actually holding it down. Anthony was still notorious for being a playboy, and he actually dating someone really just didn't happen. He wasn't one for hiding the fact that they were dating, either, always ready for PDA, and it apparently didn't bother anyone but, Rogers. He wouldn't say anything, of course, just make a face and turn his head away. It was pretty rude but, hey, what more could he expect? If he wanted to act like he lived in the forties, be Loki's guest. He respected him for keeping faith but, he wished he wasn't one of those selective Christians who picked out key _bullshit_ to hone in on and use against others. Loki figured that if you were going to hate someone because your bible told you to, you should follow it from dotting the "i" to crossing the "t". He hadn't made any enemies yet, and he was surprised considering he was a foreign student. College in America seemed to be different than what he had in mind to begin with, mostly only getting an understanding about it from films. They were supposed to be all about drinking, partying, drugs, sex, frat boys, initiations, and all of that junk, at least from what he picked up.

"Hey babe, say something in Norwegian for Clint," Anthony requested, looking down at him.

"Why?" He whined, adjusting to get more comfortable against the shorter man.

"I told him you were from Norway, and he wants to hear some Norwegian," Anthony explained, smirking.

"En, to, tre, fire, fem, seks, syv, åtte, ni, ti," He finished with a sigh in his Norwegian accent.

"What does that mean?" Barton asked eagerly, looking at him with wide eyes.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten," Loki answered, smirking when Barton looked crestfallen.

Steve had looked over once he started speaking, and when Loki caught his eye, he blushed and automatically turned away. Loki raised his eyebrows in curiosity for a split second until his attention was dragged back to Tony who was making some arm movements because he was demonstrating how a plane would look if a dinosaur ate it. He shook his head and chuckled, oddly intrigued by his boyfriend's crazy antics. He backed up when he was almost hit in the face by an elbow, awkwardly landing on Steve who abruptly jumped up from his seat and glared down at Loki. Loki smiled sheepishly up at him and waved with his fingers, looking over at Tony who seemed like he was about to burst with laughter. If the reincarnation didn't know any better, he would think Steve was secretly into him from the way he constantly had a blush on his face around him. He quickly grabbed his food and stalked off to the trash can, nearly running into someone along the way. Loki looked over to see who it was, noticing the person was a new student, so he hoisted himself up and casually made his way over, standing behind the blond headed jock. He eyed the newcomer up and down, noting the way he stood staring at Steve like he was a person he would have worshipped as a child, almost laughing at the hyperactivity surrounding him. He looked like he was going to explode with awe if he didn't say anything, and Steve just cocked an annoyed eyebrow at the man.

"Hi, my name is Phil. Phil Coulson, what's yours?" He offered, extending a hand to him.

Steve just grunted and walked over to the bin, dumping his food into it, slamming the tray on top of it, and heading off to who knows where. Loki frowned and waited for the person named Phil to be upset but, he still looked the same as before. No frown, no sadness in his eyes, he didn't even seem like he noticed the rejection of conversation. Loki automatically admired that of him fairly quickly, hoping he could befriend the lad. Before he could say anything, arms immediately went around his waist, holding tightly, and a chin was placed on his shoulder. He was being clung to possessively, and when he looked down at the tanned arms of Stark, he just snorted and looked over at him. He was acting defensive as if he would let go, Coulson would jump on Loki and have his way with him right dead centre in the cafeteria. All he could do was roll his eyes and lean back into him, keeping an eye on Phil who was looking in the direction that Rogers left in, like he expected him to come back and introduce himself. Loki blushed slightly as he was kissed on the cheek by Anthony, making a sound of content to hide his embarrassment at the PDA in front of the new guy. He seemed to not be paying attention, sort of like he was stuck in time, just staring and waiting for Steve to return. It almost became awkward until he shrugged and gave a five minute delayed wave.

"Nice meeting you!" He called, and turned to the two beside him.

"Don't worry about Steve, he's a bit moody sometimes," Loki whispered, giving him a smile.

Phil returned the smile and was about to introduce himself, when Loki shushed him and told him he already knew his name. He held out his hand and Phil shook it, seeming pleased that someone finally shook his hand. Tony buried his face into Loki's neck for a bit, causing him to tense up, fearing the reaction of the new person but, relaxing when he didn't seem fazed by it at all. He wondered if he was homosexual himself, seeing as how he nearly fainted when he ran across Steve, the Adonis of the school, as some called him. He wouldn't be surprised if he was, though it wasn't his place to ask. He felt Anthony smirk against his flesh, almost like he could read his lover's mind. The smirks turned into soft kisses, almost causing him to moan but, instead wiggling and pushing back against him. He didn't want to make things awkward, though he knew Anthony was in a teasing mood. As much as he would like to give in, he was expecting a Skype call in about a half an hour from his older brother. He had been around Stark long enough to see that he could make things fast if needed but, he couldn't look so ravaged by the man around his brother. Thor would already freak out in happiness when he told him he was in a relationship with the inventor, and he didn't need anything else. He purred with affection from the way Tony's hand slinked up his back and played with his hair, grunting as he tightened his grip.

"I'm Loki, and this is my boyfriend, Anthony," He introduced himself and the person hanging off of him.

"Really? That's a cool name, Loki. And you are the son of the owner of this school, correct?" Phil responded, confirming his thoughts.

Anthony nodded against him and suddenly let go, now interested in Coulson who dived into conversation about the college and other things owned by the Stark name. Loki wasn't bothered by his boyfriend doing that, he knew he had poor tendencies to go off and forget he was spending time with him. He shrugged, walking back to the table to let the two talk, picking up his tray. Clint mimicked his actions, following him as he dumped out the food and tossed it on top of the bin as Steve did a few minutes ago. Clint tried making conversation but, Loki ignored him, deciding to go back to Tony's dorm to wait for the call. It was raining as he stepped outside, earning a groan from the tall man. How convenient was it that his umbrella was left in his old dorm? It wasn't like the rain or the cold bothered him, he just didn't feel like being wet at the moment. As he began walking, his clothes automatically suctioned to his body, making him shift uncomfortably and hang his head. His black locks were plastered to his face and neck, the water drizzling down his face and onto the cement below. He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment and pausing, then continuing on. He didn't feel like doing much other than getting into warm clothing, curling up in the sheets that smelt wonderfully of Anthony, and waiting on a call. He missed his brother dreadfully, and would relish this call, since he didn't know when he would contact him again, if ever. He was a positive guy but, one always had to know the possibilities of a situation, and this one being that his brother could be wounded or killed in battle.

He pulled open the door to the dorm building, stepping onto the tile and narrowing his eyes against the fluorescent lighting. The AC whipped against his wet flesh, causing him to shiver, though he enjoyed it. Trotting off to the dorm he shared, he almost got lost in thought about why Thor shouldn't be at war, nearly passing where he needed to go. Another door opened and he instantly headed inside and closed the door, stripping of all clothing. He rummaged through Anthony's dresser, picking out something dry to wear, and pulling them on. He looked down in satisfaction at the white muscle shirt and red boxers he was now sporting, clambering up onto the warmth of the bed, and curling up in the blankets that lay upon it. He reached for his laptop at the end of the mattress and opened it, rubbing the touch pad to wake it up. Loki smiled at the soft groan it gave before flickering the welcome page where his name shown at him, drawing his finger across the pad to click it, typing in his password which was conveniently his boyfriend's name. _Is that weird that we have only been dating a month and a half, and I already put my laptop password as AnthonyStark? _No, it couldn't be, considering people said "I love you" after the first day. He shook the thought from his mind and stared at the TARDIS background in front of him. Can't blame a man for liking things. He signed into Skype and stared at his brother's offline status, sighing, before going onto the Internet. He typed in into the URL bar, getting to it and checking what was happening with his friends back in Norway. Obviously everything was defaulted to read in Norwegian but, it wasn't a problem for him. Nothing interesting was going on, just some stupid game application requests along with event recommendations that he couldn't attend being half way across the world.

Loki nearly jumped out of his skin when the sound for a Skype call went off, quickly accepting it with a video chat. Thor's face lit the screen, clad in military style turn outs and grinning, like he had never left at all. The all too famous _brother!_ sounded through the microphone and rang into his ears, causing him to smile as well. That greeting would never get old, and as much anger he held toward his brother for not using his own judgement and will to stand up to his father, it went away immediately when they spoke. He missed the blond brute and the way he would pick him up off the ground in a crushing hug, the way he would hold him to comfort him when he was upset or scared, the threatening tone to his voice when he was about to kill whomever hurt him, and everything else wonderful about the man he so wished he shared blood with. Was that all going to come to a permanent end? Loki didn't know. He let his mind wander back to Thor, silently wondering how much time had passed since he drifted off into his thoughts. Luckily it was only a minute, and Thor was talking about something to do with life in Afghanistan.

"No pretty women except for one but, she's not part of my platoon. Her name is Jane Foster, and I think I am going to ask her out, soon. How's college?" Loki caught the last part of his rambling, smiling and shaking his head as he listened to him talk about her.

"Decent, though I wish you were here," His eyes darkened a moment as he spoke before continuing. "I have a boyfriend,"

"I know, brother, I wish I was there, too. But I have a duty to my country, and I want to complete at least one tour. Boyfriend, do you mean Stark?" Thor inquired at the end, raising both eyebrows.

His sexuality had never been a secret, and all though his previous partners had all been female, he knew he was attracted to men. Thor tried to hook him up with people he thought could be suitors for him but, he was never interested. Loki sighed at the memory, wishing he could have more with him. He flinched when he heard him say "my country", and all he could think of was that home town was Norway, and if he was there instead of this gods forsaken pathetic country, none of this would have happened! Loki had a bad habit of dwelling on things that pushed him beyond his limits regarding upsetting things, letting them bother him more than they should. It was something he honestly needed to work on, one of his weak spots. He would have liked to say he didn't have any downfalls but, he wasn't too proud like he was sure Anthony was. That wasn't a bad thing, pride; it was just sometimes a great asset not to have so much of it. His boyfriend wasn't a terrible person, he wasn't even bad. The man had a good heart but, didn't always have such a great personality and the attitude could use some adjustment at times. He adored him for the way he was; there was not a thing he would change. At that moment, his brother suddenly had to go, leaving barely enough time for him to get in an "I love you, too," before the call ended. Sadness weighed heavily in his heart and he let that take over him, tears beginning to form as he started to cry. Cries evolved into sobs, and soon he was a shaking mess, pushing the laptop off of him, slamming it shut, and curling into the blankets more.

Five minutes passed of him crying when Tony came into the dorm, wondering where he had went off to. He opened his mouth to question but, immediately shut it when he saw Loki crying on the bed. Loki didn't even bother looking up, knowing who had entered, closing his eyes as he let himself be pulled into his arms and held against a muscular chest. He was being rocked and shushed now; Anthony trying desperately to comfort the man in his lap. Loki grabbed onto his hand, as if trying to make sure he was still there and not going anywhere. His hair was being gently stroked now, in a calming manner, as sweet nothings were whispered down to him. He opened his eyes to meet the chocolate brown ones of the short engineer, trying to smile. Anthony used a rough thumb to softly wipe away the tears streaming down his face, eventually relaxing enough so that the only sound he made was soft whimpers and sniffles. A quick kiss was planted on his lips, followed by a small smile that was reserved only for Loki. He let out a shaky breath, tightening his grip on his boyfriend's hand, looking down at their fingers which were now intertwined. He made a sound of approval at what he saw and got comfortable on him, letting his head rest against the arc reactor.

"What happened, baby?" He asked in a soothing voice, looking down at him with worry.

"Thor called, he...he had to g-go after about t-ten minutes," Loki choked out, nuzzling into the inventor.

He just nodded, rubbing his back gently and kissed the top of his head, not saying another word. Loki wiped his eyes, shivering from the cold that met his bare arms as the blanket fell from his shoulders. He pressed against Tony who pulled the blanket back around them both and lay back, dragging him along. He blinked sadly up at his boyfriend who shushed him before he could speak. He wrapped his muscular arms around the smaller man, holding him tightly and protectively, as if he would protect him from all his fears. That was how Loki felt, always safe and secure from the world if Anthony was around. He seemed to chase away the sadness, the loss, the grief, and all the negative emotions quelling his heart. He felt utterly comforted and relaxed now that they just lay there, like nothing could go wrong. He let out a heavy sigh as he adjusted himself so he was lying between the inventor's legs, on his stomach, with his head resting just below the arc reactor. He turned so his chin sat on his chest, looking directly up at him. Tony smiled at him softly, kindness in his eyes as he reached down and ran his fingers through his hair. Everything was okay now as he returned the gaze and smile lovingly, quietly wondering how he could have ever doubted this man. Their relationship had worked out so far; Stark remained faithful, even though he could leave whenever he wanted. He rubbed his eyes since they burned from the previous tears, digging the heels of his hands into his eyes a moment.

Forty-five minutes had passed of pure cuddling, and he honestly didn't want to move. He had eventually moved his head so it was sideways since his neck began to hurt and he didn't want to make Anthony uncomfortable. They had made small conversation about the events that led up to Thor leaving, dipping lightly into the part of how Odin had back handed him which busted his nose, listened to Tony threaten to kill him, smirked when he silently groaned when he was told he couldn't murder, and discussed his trip to the hospital. All the engineer had known previously was that Loki's leg was injured but, didn't have a clue to how it happened. He chuckled when he vowed to never let any harm come to him again, because the reincarnated god _knew_ in his heart that it could not happen. He was bound to get injured, physically or emotionally, and he hoped Anthony would be there to help him through it when it happened. He suddenly sat up, one arm around Loki so he could hoist him up as well, looking around. His eyes lay on his closed laptop before leaving the bed, one hand around Loki's wrist. He narrowed his eyes curiously, wondering what was going on in that genius mind of his, seeming to watch the gears grinding in his head. He was pulled to the door before he was told where they were going.

"Smoothie, I want one," Stark said with a smirk.

"Alright, of course you do. Let's go," Loki replied, shaking his head with a smile.

Loki was dragged along through the door and out the hall, into the rainy parking lot. He shook the water that started falling onto his hair out; looking up to see it was actually easing off. Before he could do much of anything, he was pulled along to Anthony's Audi, the door to the passenger's side being held open and then watching him as he ran to the driver's side. He found his boyfriend's odd cravings to be simply adorable, and if he wanted to be an asshole, he could say he was almost like a pregnant woman with raging hormones who thought anchovies and cereal sounded amazing together. He laughed to himself at the thought of Anthony running around with a bulging stomach and bitching at everyone. He looked over to the man who was now speeding off once he was sure Loki shut the door and buckled in. They were racing at high speeds again down a freeway; the signs seeming to fly past at lightning speed. He watched Tony out of the corner of his eye, raising his eyebrow at the serious look he had on his face as he drove. It was either so they wouldn't crash, or he was seriously dying internally for a smoothie. He leant against the window, head facing him so he could stare, focusing on every little detail. Clean shaven face, prominent jaw line, serious yet kind eyes - saved only for Loki - , wonderful cheekbones, and a fierce drive to be the best he can.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N Okay so sorry for not updating for a while, I don't exactly have Internet access. Only when I can get to the library, and on my days off from work. Uhm I'm usually not one for asking for reviews but, does anyone want to give me any? ;;. I'm like 500% sure this story is not up to par, so some feedback would be nice. uvu. Thanks bbs. Ily.**

* * *

Loki was leaning against Anthony in the smoothie shop that his hyperactive boyfriend finally chose. He could have sworn he counted twenty that they passed before a decision was made but, he specifically wanted this one. They were sharing a strawberry and banana smoothie due to the fact that Tony would not stop chanting "strawberry" and bouncing up and down like a five year old. Strawberry and banana just happened to be Loki's favourite combination of fruits, so they went with it. His boyfriend was fairly unusual, completely different from what the pale man was used to but, he liked it. He sighed in content as the engineer slid his arm around him as he grabbed the drink. He put his chapped lips to the straw and sucked hard, letting the red content slid through it and into his mouth. He swished it around a couple times to spread the flavour before swallowing with a barely audible sigh. Usually he groaned and complained about having chapped lips but, the reincarnation knew that the weather would keep them in that state no matter what he did. He blinked tiredly from the exhaustion that seemed to be dragging him down, from the crying and the rain. He stifled a yawn the best he could, closing his eyes and resting his head on the shorter man's shoulder. Tony ended up finishing the smoothie and planted a kiss to Loki's forehead before rubbing his arm and standing up, earning a protest from the other. He was comfortable and it was absolutely not fair that he had to become uncomfortable for that playboy to move. His head dramatically fell forward but, eased its way down onto the table as to not hurt himself, trying to emphasise his exhaustion.

Stark just laughed at his actions and pulled him up so he was standing half way in the booth, half way out. Loki whined and forced his legs to work instead of being sacks of potatoes, leaning against him for a moment before walking out to the car. He didn't bother with sunglasses but, of course, Anthony had his _designer_ ones on. He huffed and got into the fancy dancy car that he seemed to be spending a lot more time in, letting his head slump forward, listening to Tony chuckle again at his dramatisations. He lazily flipped him off and let out an exaggerated groan followed by a yawn. He knew when he got back to the dorm that he would pass out the second he hit the mattress. It wasn't his fault, today just wasn't a good day, aside from bothering Steve and meeting Phil. New people always cheered him up, so he quietly wished he would have met him after the depressing call with his brother. He had only been able to see him for ten minutes out of an entire month, and it was driving him up the wall. If his mum hadn't rang him this morning to let him know that Thor was going to call, he would have not checked his laptop, and most likely would have missed the rare opportunity to share a moment with him. He frowned at the thought, suddenly longing for that brute, his blond hair, blue eyes, overly muscular build, constant optimism, and everything else that just _screamed_ Thor. He wondered sadly when he would see him or hear from him again, and figured it might be another month or so to get some form of contact. Loki was proud of his brother; don't get him wrong, he just wished he was here with him. The war he would always hate, the president he would always despise for dragging his country into fighting, and his father which he despised the most. The evil man who ripped his only support and happiness from his fingertips like some cold hearted asshole who only wanted his adopted son to suffer.

"You're really tired, huh, babe?" The soothing voice of Anthony, _his_ Anthony filled his ears as they headed down the road.

"Yes, quite a bit," He replied softly, sighing and yawning for what seemed to be the millionth time to him.

"Let's get you back home, then," He said with a smile, picking up speed a bit.

_Anthony, oh my dear, how did I ever end up with you? You're sweet, you're intelligent, you're protective, you're patient, and you have been what I need. With whatever is going on in that beautiful heart, whatever you are struggling with in that amazing mind, and whatever is going on with your father, I swear I will make it okay again. Please believe me. _He voiced in his head; for a split second hoping that he didn't suddenly get telepathy powers. It would have been weird for him to know, especially since he really wasn't the type for gooey-mushy things. Loki snorted and decided he was going to change that fairly quickly. Be prepared because Loki considers himself to be a hopeless romantic and will want to cuddle, watch films together, eat pizza, then go climb onto the roof to star gaze. If Stark kept this relationship, he would be in for a ton of new experiences. All, he hoped, good ones, since he owed that much to the almost broken inventor with some severe daddy issues. He had a bit himself but, Odin didn't downright beat him for messing up and doing something illegal, all though he was sure he would now. Thor wasn't there to protect him, so he was fair game now from the verbal and now physical abuse from Odin AllFather. AllFather, the name that was attached to a car business, which Loki could take down if it was known his former father, was violent. Sadly enough, he wasn't corrupt enough to do that, and had too much compassion for the human species to sink to that level. As for his boyfriend, he didn't exactly know what was going on, so he couldn't judge the situation or how far Anthony would go to set things straight. He wouldn't take down an entire company just out of spite, would he? He was going to be the next owner, the heir to the business, the prized prince with a dash or two of cockiness.

Speaking of cocks, that leads him to think about his sexuality and how Odin dealt with him coming out. He didn't take it too kindly but, he didn't act violently or like he wanted to murder him. With eventual days coming, his ex-father _did_ tell him he was going to get AIDS and die from being with another man but, Loki did his best to tune him out. He was fifteen when he told his family, and Frigga and Thor seemed to be the only ones supportive. Odin on the other hand, besides his continuous insults, tried hooking him up with a girl from another school named Sigyn. He was highly uninterested but, agreed to go out on a date with him, which got him into a six month relationship with her. It wasn't a bad relationship he had to admit, he just wasn't into females. When he broke up with her, Odin lost his temper and went on a very long rage filled rant about how homosexuals were unnatural, how they bring shame to Norway, and how no son of his would be gay. Then he proceeded to brag about how Thor Odinson was as straight as a nail, which Loki had retaliated with _so are spaghetti noodles until you get them hot_. That earned him a grounding for a week, even though he knew his older brother was curious about the same sex at the time. Thor was straight, as far as Loki knew, and even if he wasn't, it wouldn't bother him. Hell, he could even become a drag queen named Thunder Goddess or some crazy name he would be bound to come up with, and Loki would love him all the same. He was an accepting man, as long as what you are doing doesn't hurt anyone.

The car suddenly stopped and before Loki realised where they were, they were back at the dorms. He let out a noise of approval, tiredly exiting the vehicle and dragging himself to the dorm building, not bothering to wait for Anthony to catch up. He sighed and entered, going to the door that read _Stark_ and tried twisting the door knob but, he found no strength to do so. He felt like he hadn't slept for months, so he just assumed that it was the stress getting to him. He whined softly, since the bed was only a few steps away, he just had to get through this pesky door. He glared at it and tried the knob again, only to grumble when it didn't work. He turned his head to the side slightly, listening to someone enter the building with him. He looked over to see Tony walking in, so he whined at him for help. He laughed at the pathetic looking man standing by the door before heading over and opening the door. Once the door of evil, as Loki dubbed it was opened, he nearly squealed in joy and walked across the room and flopped onto the mattress. He sighed in content, curled up, and fell asleep, leaving Tony to cover him up and cuddle. The next day came too quickly for Loki's liking, waking up to the sunlight shining in through the window. He grumbled and sat up, sighing, and looking around for Anthony. The engineer was on his own laptop busy with something that didn't look too important to Loki so early in the morning. He yawned and stretched, crawling over and resting his head on his knee, watching the screen.

"Morning, babe," Tony greeted, running his hand through his hair.

Loki nuzzled up into the touch, "Good morning. What are you up to?"

"Just business stuff for Stark Industries," He replied, rubbing his jaw line gently with his thumb.

"I see, well, have fun," He murmured, yawning a bit and staring up at him.

He turned his gaze back to the laptop, looking at him type and fill out online forms. He hummed softly, stretching out, rubbing his cheek against Anthony's leg for a moment. He rolled onto his back, stretching his arms up into the air and making sounds that accommodated his boredom. Tony grabbed one of his hands, bringing it down, and held onto it, causing him to giggle and be called silly. He kissed the back of Tony's hand, almost purring from happiness. He reached over with his free hand and batted at his boyfriend's brown hair, snorting, and waiting for him to finish so he could have attention. He wasn't an attention _whore_, wasn't needy, or clingy, he only liked to hold conversations and the like. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a vibration go through Anthony's leg and against his head, whining and scooting away. Stark chuckled at him lightly, reassuring him that it was just his mobile but, Loki was not convinced. He stared at his leg for a moment until the mobile was pulled from his pocket and checked. He watched the genius tense up and clutch it tightly, face turning into a scowl, seeming to get fairly angry. He reached his hand out to him but, flinched when the mobile was thrown against the carpet. His love seemed to be seething, jaw clenched tightly, hands balling up into fists. _What's got you so angry?_ Loki scrunched up his face before the features fell into a frown, and he was attempting to comfort him again.

"I have to go see my father, apparently, something got around and he wants to talk to me about it," Tony huffed, closing his laptop and getting up.

"Now? Do you want me to go with you?" He asked with the frown still on his face.

"If you want," He shrugged, moving to slip his shoes on, not bothering to get changed.

Loki did the same, keeping his head low, not liking the new tension that filled the room. Not many things seemed to go right lately, and he hoped it wasn't something bad. Karma could at least show some mercy, if that is what this all was about. Tony was suddenly out the door, leaving Loki to fast walk to catch up, closing the door. It wasn't hard before he reached the engineer since his longer legs allowed him to take bigger strides. He lifted his head, looking over to Tony a moment before adverting his gaze back to where they were heading. He stayed silent as they walked out and to the car, getting in per usual, and doing the normal routine, which ended with Stark speeding off down the street and to the highway. He had no idea what to say for comfort, so he just stared ahead and watched the movement of people in the city. Nothing interesting, everyone just going about their daily business at six thirty am, heading to work, school, or whatever it was that they could do. He looked sadly at the homeless men and women on the streets, wishing he could offer them some food or give them money but, they were already on the highway, topping speeds of 100mph. He sighed and wondered how he could go so fast and not get pulled over or wreck the damned thing. He tapped his fingers on his knee, a bad habit he managed to pick up on his journey through life. Thor would always playfully smack his hand to make him stop, as it eventually got annoying but, no one was making him stop now.

They pulled up to a skyscraper, and when Loki looked up to the top of the high rise, he noticed a giant sign that read _STARK INDUSTRIES_ in silver colours. He looked to the door, and around the parking lot they were in, noting that everything had that name plastered on it. How they didn't run out of money by buying big things, Loki didn't know. Tony parked on the opposite side of the door, getting out and walking in, not waiting for his boyfriend. He seemed fairly intent on seeing what his father wanted that he either forgot Loki was there, or knew he would eventually catch up. He scrambled out of the car, intimidated by the luxuries around him even though he was used to them because of Odin, and trailed behind Anthony as they went into the building. People tried greeting the son of the billionaire who owned the company but, they were ignored, so they went on with what they were previously doing. No one bothered acknowledging his taller, skinnier, and paler shadow but, he was used to being ignored. Back in Norway, if anything public happened to the Allfather family, Thor was always the one to get attention, and Loki was just the adopted outcast who no one cared about. Honestly, why would they, when Thor was the star child? He shrugged and followed him into the elevator, leaning against one of the walls as it took them up to the eighty second floor, where Tony stepped out and walked across the hall to the end, reaching a giant double door. Loki started feeling uneasy, so he didn't follow his boyfriend into Howard's office, instead leaning against the wall by the door. From where he was, he could hear the entire conversation going on inside.

"What do you need, Howard?" Tony's voice travelled back to him, sounding annoyed.

"Welcome, son, please have a seat," Another slightly deeper voice, which Loki figured must have been Howard.

"No, we will talk about it from where I am,"

"Fine, as you wish. Now, there have been some rumours going around that you are seeing Odin Allfather's son, Loki. Is that true?"

"So what if it is? What's it to you, old man?"

"Anthony, relax. I just want to know,"

"Yes, I am dating Loki," Anthony's voice seemed to grow more angry, and he could imagine the playboy tensing up like earlier.

"I see," A reply, and what seemed to be footsteps moving toward the door.

"What the fuck are you doing, Howard?!" Tony yelled, and Loki guessed he was backing up.

"No son of mine is a faggot!"

Loki flinched when it sounded like a body was slammed against the wall right on the other side of him, and the familiar noises of struggling followed. He moved to the door and yanked one open with both hands, turning and seeing Howard _strangling_ his boyfriend against the wall, and Tony looking like he was struggling to breathe. Loki tried catching his own breath so he wouldn't panic, watching the eccentric red faced man continue to deprive his son of precious oxygen. He ran over, trying to pull him away, only getting hit in the face as a response. He recovered quickly, just as Tony's eyes were falling closed, kicking the man in the back of the knee to make him collapse and release his grip. Anthony fell as well, lying on the ground and grabbing at his throat, coughing and gasping for air. Howard was getting up, turning his anger to the reincarnation, spitting curses at him, while Loki flipped him off and moved to his boyfriend's side to help him. He was rubbing his side comfortingly; trying to make sure he was breathing properly, sighing and keeping an eye on the older Stark so he wouldn't do anything. He was watching with pure hatred flaring in his eyes, not saying nor doing anything, just watching. It was pretty creepy but, eventually Tony got up, and Loki pulled him out of the room before he decided to do something he would regret. The door slammed loudly behind him, and he supported the shorter man as they went back into the elevator and down to the lobby area.

He looked pretty unfit to drive, so he demanded he was given the keys, and helped him get into the passenger seat, as he took the driver's. He made sure the other man was buckled in before he backed out and took off back to the dorms. They seemed to constantly go back there but, they didn't spend much time in their living quarters. Loki looked over at Anthony every so often, wondering if he should take him to a hospital to get checked out, seeing as he looked like he got hit by a train. He feared oxygen deprivation could have given him some form of brain damage, or the force of Howard's strength crushed his windpipe. He seemed to be stable, so he kept on driving to his destination until Tony made a noise and told him to stop. He frowned and did what he was told, pulling into the parking lot of a store, stopping next to a minivan. He looked over at him for a long moment as he sat there, holding onto the seat belt for a moment, before requesting that they went to a park so he could get fresh air. The dorm air was too stuffy and stale for him to properly breathe in, and it was always good to be around nature. The biggest problem was he had no idea where any parks were but, he vaguely remembered flying past one on the way to meet up with his father. Besides the fact that "father" sounded professional and proper, calling both Howard and Odin "dad" wouldn't be right, because it takes a special person to be a dad, while anyone could be a father, and he was pretty sure neither of the two were up to par.

Once they reached the park that he saw, Anthony was out the door before he could fully park, walking off to a bench underneath a tree. Loki sighed and followed suit, mostly to make sure that he was mentally okay. The foreign man walked over to him, face dark, and sat beside him, drawing a leg to cross over his other one. He put his hand on top of the back of Tony's, sliding his fingers in between his, to form a near perfect hold. It felt weird holding onto prior burnt flesh that healed over time but, he figured he would have to get used to it. It wasn't bad, not entirely, because it was Anthony – his Anthony. His insane, broken, accident prone, damaged, lab explosion causing, loving, sweet, boyfriend. The man who asks for all and receives nothing except worthless material things. One who wants to be loved, who wants to make his father proud, and who wants to make a mark on this world. He had barely any friends because everyone tended to use him for his fame and fortune, and just wanted free rides to bars, parties, or some cash. Loki wanted to be different, he wanted to show him that not everyone he meets is bad or trying to use him; he wanted to bring in romance, love, kindness, and hopefully wear through the hard shell around that beautiful heart. He wanted to show him everything would be okay, and if it wasn't, he'd do everything in his power to make sure he felt that way. He silently begged the powers of the earth to spare Tony, to give him something to make him happy, and to stop dragging him through hell and back.

"Anthony, are you...are you going to be alright?" He asked slowly, looking to him.

No response, only the future billionaire staring blankly at the grass below their feet. He looked like he wasn't there, had a distant look to him, and seemed oddly empty. Loki tensed up, worry setting in fairly quickly as he examined his boyfriend. His shoulders were slumped, his neck muscles barely holding his head comfortably; looking completely lifeless. The joking manner, the perverted gestures, everything was just gone, like Howard drained him of all that he was. Loki figured he had a lot of work to do if he was going to brighten this young man's spirits, so he rested his chin on his shoulder and kissed his jaw. Nothing, no reaction whatsoever. _Come on, Anthony; please don't be like this, I don't want to lose you._ He requested in his mind, only vaguely remembering that he couldn't hear other people's thoughts. It was something created by man to make creatures in stories look fierce and powerful. It didn't exist, and it never would; no technology in the universe could possibly turn someone into a telepath. That was something that came out of X-Men or Twilight or something, not something in real life. He almost whimpered, wishing he could hear what he thought without having to voice it, so his feelings were genuine and not made up or forced. Howard really damaged his son, and Loki couldn't decide if it was from choking him or the harsh words he shot at him. He went with the words, considering Anthony could handle a lot of violence and physical pain.

Almost like his wish of mind powers came true, his love whispered, "No son of mine is a faggot,"

"Baby, you're beautiful, okay?" Loki pressed, trying to get him to at least smirk from the compliment.

"I need a drink, let's go to a bar," Stark said in a depressed voice, getting up and going back toward the car.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I am so, so, so sorry for not updating sooner. Work has REALLY gotten in the way of my writing. This is short...and really bad, because I wanted to get it up for you guys to read. Not sure when thirteen will come. Please forgive me, I love you all. D: **

* * *

Another month had passed, and the days pushing into March were starting to look bleak with Anthony and him. His usually over the top, all-about-me boyfriend had turned into an extreme workaholic, sometimes staying away from the dorm for days at a time. He was getting stressed himself since he didn't have Anthony to sleep next to most nights, and he was starting to feel abandoned like he did when Thor left. That was another one of his weaknesses, he had a fear of abandonment, and he wasn't sure what it stemmed from. Reaching back into his memory bank, there was really nothing indicating that he would have future issues with keeping people in his life. It could have been from the way his father treated him but, his mother always made up for it. Loki's life was being thrown around again and he hated it, and when he actually did get to spend time with Tony, he was usually too tired or too busy talking about work. He had tried self-harming but, the pain did him no justice, and he decided it was stupid to cope that way, on his part.

He sighed as he fell back into his normal routine of going back to classes, and actually got to spend time with Professor James, talking about his past documentaries. Alistair was honestly one of the only people who made him happy these days, and he feared he was slipping into a depression. As he was sitting on his desk in Alistair's class to discuss some literature, his mobile vibrated in his pocket. He nearly jumped out of his skin to check it, scampering off the desk and pulling it from his skinny jeans. He was hoping it was Anthony but, when he checked it, it turned out to be spam from some company that got his number. Professor James frowned at him, knowing he was waiting for a message from Tony, probably wanting to offer some words of comfort. Loki just gave him a small forced smile, shrugged, and left the room, dragging himself down the hall. First Thor, now Tony; school started to be somewhere he didn't want to be anymore. No one bothered to look at him or even acknowledge his existence, and Steve just went about his perfect life like he was never friends with the reincarnation in the first place. Clint tried cheering him up when he wasn't busy mooning over Professor Romanova. He admired his efforts but, he didn't think anything would make him happy again. Anthony tried his best but, with his father recently going into the hospital for liver disease from alcohol consumption, he mainly had to keep things in order. He told Loki that he would spend all his time with him when his father was out of the hospital, which should be in a few days. Loki trusted him, hoping he would stick to what he said, which might not be in his best interest.

He made his way out of the halls and to the courtyard where Anthony and he first had physical contact, where he held him and comforted him during a PTSD episode. Loki sighed at the memories, looking at the ground and going about his way. He felt the familiar tug at his heart which indicated depression was starting to set in, so he growled and stalked off to find Clint. The archer promised to take him to a party, all though he honestly didn't want to attend. He just wasn't the type for parties which usually were accompanied by excessive drinking, drugs, the loss of judgement and full impairment. The biggest issue with going to one of those things was that is where Anthony would usually spend his time; somewhere he loved to be. He figured he had no right to act this way, so clingy over a man he only had known for a few months. He was acting stupid, immature, and obnoxious. No wonder why Tony didn't want to be around him. No, that is just the abandonment issues talking. He sighed and turned a corner to get out of the courtyard, keeping an eye out for the blond headed man. A hand fell onto his shoulder and for a split moment in time, because of the strength of the grip, he thought it would be his boyfriend but, when he turned around, he found the man he was on a mission to find standing behind him.

"Hey Loki, you ready?" Clint asked, eyeing him up and down. Barton's smile quickly turned to a frown when he noticed how unkempt the reincarnation looked.

"Sure, we're going now? I thought parties were at night," Loki murmured, trying to make eye contact in order to hold an actual conversation.

"They are, I just want to go to a few places beforehand," Clint responded with a shrug, slapping on a goofy smile.

"Let me get cleaned up. You can wait in the dorm for me, if you'd like," Was the last thing he said as he walked off to his dorm room.

Clint followed behind, trying to strike conversation back up again, making idle talk about college and most importantly, Natalia. Loki could honestly care less at this point, not even bothering to wonder where he was going to be taken before the supposed party. He really didn't want to go anywhere, honestly, he felt like crawling into bed and sleeping eternity away. He was glad his professors understood his depression, and let him leave class early or just not show up at all. He already knew the material, so it didn't matter, and he silently wished he chose advanced placement classes but, he was thankful for the opportunity to work with his idol. He sighed as he made it back to the dorm he shared with his boyfriend, opening the door and waiting for Clint to catch up and follow him in. He shut the door behind him and went into the fairly small bathroom that the university provided to most rooms. When he came back out, fully clothed and looking a bit better than he had, he noticed Barton pretending to shoot random things with an invisible bow and arrow from the bed. He cocked an eyebrow, not even wanting to know what he was doing, all though it was obvious. The man was an archer, so he naturally had to shoot anything and everything, even when his hands weren't gripping a bow.

"You know, I have really good eye sight, and I want to be a pilot, so maybe I should have a code name. Like, BirdMan, or The Eagle," Clint said as he exited, rolling onto his back to shoot an invisible target on the ceiling.

"Like superheros? Maybe I'll call you Hawkeye," Loki replied with a chuckle, walking over to him.

"Hawkeye, that's it! I shall be Hawkeye, the world's greatest marksman,"

"Sure, Clint," The reincarnation shook his head and went to find his knee-high converse, something he hasn't worn in quite some time.

Loki decided his shoes went fairly well with his white skinny jeans and black half-shirt with the words "Pearl Jam" in faded white lettering. The hem was torn, as well as the arms, which made him look like something out of the nineties. His black hair was down and fell around his shoulders in an almost seductive way, in which his nails had to match. They were painted black as well, along with the eyeliner that accompanied his jade green eyes wonderfully. He looked almost gothic, and he swore when Clint looked up at him, he was gawking. Loki put on a necklace that Tony had given to him some time ago, which was gold with a crescent moon shaped charm that had a fox paw print in the centre. He had told him it fit his personality perfectly, and the skinnier man had agreed. The moon represented his dark side, the mystery of night, and the beauty of the moon that dominated the skies at that time. The paw print fit in because he could be a trickster, living up to the god he started out as in life. He sighed heavily at the memories, grumbling to himself about how he hadn't seen him in three days. Clint was at his side in an instant, trying to drag him out the door, in which he let himself be pulled along. He suddenly felt like he didn't want to be touched, like physical contact would hurt him somehow, so he jerked his arm back. Clint made a noise of protest but, didn't touch him again as they walked out of the hall and to the archer's Toyota truck. From being around Stark's flashy car, swarmed by everything "expensive", the beat up truck was kind of like a blow to the face, and for some reason, he wished he wasn't going along with him.

"Where are we going, Barton?" He questioned, curious as to what was going on before the party.

"Just a drive around town. It is four pm, and I want to be there by nine, so we can look around the city. You haven't been around much, have you?"

"Honestly, no," He replied with pursed lips, sliding into the passenger seat of the truck.

Being with Anthony, he was only taken to places the inventor wanted to go, so he never got to see much of New York. Not like he wanted to, America didn't appease to his interests as much as it should have, at least that is what his former father would say. He sighed, thoughts of Thor coming back, making him wish the brute was back. It wouldn't happen, he would either come back when he finished a couple tours, or he would come back in a body bag, and Loki hoped the latter wouldn't be the answer. He gazed out the window as Clint started up the vehicle, revving the engine a couple times before driving off. Normally, the reincarnation would cock his eyebrow and make a comment but, he didn't feel in the mood to do so, plus, it was only something he would do to Anthony showing off. Clint was nice and attractive but, he wasn't his Tony, and he couldn't ever compare. Feeling another wave of depression come over him, he decided he needed to smoke a cigarette, something he had only done about three times in his entire lifetime. He knew things were getting bad if he had to rely on smoke and nicotine to calm his nerves. He looked over to Clint, wondering if he would have any in his car, opening his mouth to say something.

"Do you have any cigarettes?" Loki questioned, watching him point to the glove compartment.

He opened it up, grabbing the pack which read "Marlboro Light 100s", and opened the lid to see four sticks staring up at him, almost like they were begging to be smoked. He found a lighter right beside it, grateful that his friend smoked. He put the filter to his lips, opening them slightly so it fit snugly, holding onto it with his mouth as he flicked the lighter and put the flame to the opposite end. He inhaled the smoke into his lungs to help light the cigarette, holding it in until he could get the window down, taking the cancer stick between two fingers and blowing the smoke out the window. He only coughed slightly, his organs that provided oxygen a bit irritated with him for putting in something that wasn't supposed to be there. Clint looked at him out of the corner of his eye with a smirk, as if he expected that to happen, so Loki just grunted and continued with his smoke. When he finished and looked up, he noticed he was in a location he had never been to before, though there were still tall buildings that surrounded him. From the way things looked, he decided they must have been in the downtown area of New York City, eyeing the people that seemed like they haven't had a shower in months. He wanted to help but like before, he was in a vehicle, being taken to gods knew where. He put the cigarette out on the miniature ash tray that was conveniently located in front of the gear shift, going back to gaze outside. He licked his lips, annoyed at the flavour it left behind, swallowing the build up of saliva and wincing. That taste wouldn't go away for a little bit, so he just had to put up with it for now. At least he was calmer, and that was all that mattered.

Loki looked up as the sun started setting, watching the rays try to reach across the sky in one last attempt to keep the sky bright before night took its turn. Reds, purples, pinks, and blues danced across the atmosphere making Loki wish Stark was here to watch this magnificent feat with him. Glancing at the clock, he noticed it read 7:30pm, which gave them an hour and a half to get back to upper New York City in time for the party. He enjoyed the drive, and he honestly didn't want it to end so he could be around people he despised, doing things he wish never existed. The worst part of it was, Tony was oddly drawn to them, and for him to experience one for himself without his boyfriend at his side, was painful. Clint had stayed silent most of the ride, which was fairly unusual for that man, considering he always had something to say. When the paler man looked over at him, he seemed like he was too busy lost in his own thoughts to strike conversation, and for once, Loki didn't welcome the silence. He put up with it, though, unsure of what to say as they went down major roads to get to their destination. The clock struck 8:02pm as they entered upper NYC, the scenery and people changing to posh very quickly. He snorted, rolling up the window, not liking the draft on his bare stomach as they turned a corner. When it was getting closer to 9:00pm, the sun had lost its battle, and the moon ruled for a few hours once more, they pulled up to an apartment building. Clint parked somewhere and got out, leaving Loki to follow suit, frowning and trying to keep up with the other college student.

He expected him to start talking about Professor Romanova or some other woman he fell attracted to but, the only thing he said this time was that there was a surprise for Loki toward the end of the party. He shrugged it off, walking behind him as close as possible but, not too close so it wouldn't be uncomfortable for the pair. When they entered the lobby, he tensed up, recognising it as the one his boyfriend took him a few months ago. The memories here burned his mind, aching and begging him to recreate them, causing Loki to grunt and Clint to look over his shoulder at him. He offered a smile as if he was fine, so the archer lead him to the elevator. He pressed the button to take them to the top floor, which just so happened to be the twenty-first one, right above where he spent his time with his lover. He decided not to watch the numbers as they went up, only flinching when the "ding" sound went off, indicating they were at the level they were meant to be on. Clint hummed softly and walked down the hall to find a flat, stopping at one that read "635", knocking on the door. After a few minutes and Loki grimacing at the loud music, the door opened to reveal a man around five foot eight, who stared at Barton before looking up at Loki, a smile attached to his face. He sighed, knowing it was going to be a long night, following Clint into the room. The bass blasted into his ears, shaking his body down to the core, enough that he could feel it in his heart. Some trance music, he decided, wanting to retreat and head back to a place he would feel more comfortable in, such as a quiet library or a sandy beach. Cigarette stench mixed with beer was the next to attack his senses, quickly drowning out his smell, diminishing another thing he deeply depended on. All that was left was his eye sight and feeling; the taste being taken by the cancer stick he smoked earlier.

In the second he had that he was recovering the lost senses, bright strobe lights kicked on with the beat of the music, paralysing his sight. It was almost blinding, so he had to sit on the couch to recover. He noticed someone sit beside him, and when he looked over, he noticed some random guy looking at him with lust. He could smell the alcohol wafting off of him so, he sighed, attempting to leave but, still not able to do much. His ways of deduction failed him but, it didn't take a genius to tell the man's intentions were that of only sex. He grumbled to himself that it was just his luck to have some hormone-driven guy try to come onto him at a party that Clint dragged him to. Speaking of Clint, Loki hadn't seen him since they entered the flat. He looked around, trying to see through the blinding lights but, could only make out forms of people grinding against each other like they were on the dance floor of some club. He immediately felt out of place, everything reminding him why he hated these things and a little voice in the back of his head scolding him for even wanting to go along in the first place. He sighed, trying his best to ignore the wasted person next to him, who now proceeded to throw an arm around his shoulders and attempt to pull him close. There was no glow from his chest, no soul patch, no smirk on his face; it wasn't his Tony. The guy slid his hand up Loki's thigh, trying to get out some sort of sentence, causing Loki to start to panic. He was in no way able to escape until he regained his composure, so he just tensed up, closed his eyes, and wished he was in a different place.

The man's lips were now against his neck, below his ear, and he spoke with a thick Norwegian accent, "M-my name is Dixon, and y-you are Loki. You d-d-don't seem like tha military type,"

Loki flinched at the touching and the words, responding with a, "I'm not, my brother is,"

"Y-you don' wanna figh' fer ya country?!" The guy exclaimed as if he actually shocked him.

"Why fight a battle I did not cause?" He said calmly, finally able to get up as Dixon's hand went further up his leg.

He was almost pulled back down but, he managed to escape his grasp and make his way to a bedroom. There was still no sign of his friend, so he walked over to the window and stared out at a fire escape, wondering where it led. He pushed up the glass, noting how there was no screen, and looked up to see it going straight up to the roof. Loki looked behind him, making sure no one was watching him as he climbed out onto the metal, and advanced the stairs. The crisp cold air hit him like an industrial sized freezer but, his body immediately adapted to handle it, even though he was barely dressed from the belt up. He mentally thanked reincarnation as he got to the roof, stepping over the ledge and walking over to find a place to stand, staring up at the sky. Loki felt so alone, like everyone he ever cared about abandoned him, as if nothing would ever be okay again. The guy named Dixon almost raped him, his boyfriend hadn't been around for days, his brother went off to war, his former father hated him, and Clint wandered off to gods knew where. Everything built up as he attempted to count the stars in outer space from what he could see, sighing and letting a few tears fall when he remembered that they were all dead. His body convulsed in a sob, and he let out a scream, finding himself walking forward and to the edge of the building. He put one foot on the ledge, wondering silently what it would be to fall twenty-one stories to his death. He was immediately brought back to the memory of when he comforted the woman who lost her husband, and knew she went on eventually. Anthony would do the same, Odin would laugh, Frigga would turn her love on Thor, his brother would cry but move on, and his select few friends wouldn't even bat an eye. He was alone, so very alone in a world full of people, and when he turned his gaze to the ground, he watched a few drops of his tears fall down toward the ground. Loki inhaled deeply, tensed up, and prepared himself to jump, knowing he lost everything now.

_Thirty minutes ago I could have killed someone, or better yet, myself._


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Really short again, sorry guys, lmfao. Uhm, this is going to be ending around chapter twenty. No one really likes it and I think it has ran it's course. Be prepared for angst, feels, and all that ****_bad_**** stuff. Okay bye, love Anthony.**

* * *

Everything was happening so fast as Loki stepped up onto the ledge with another foot; the music from the party seemed to be getting louder – he could hear 17 Crimes by AFI blasting through the window he left open. The wind felt sharper, his tears felt colder, and he swore he heard a voice behind him but, he blew it off as he stared ahead of him. His feet inched ever so slowly to the edge but, he leant back, in case he wanted to back out as he was consumed by thoughts. Someone was behind him now, though he didn't bother to see who it was or why they were there. Everyone would move on, everyone would move on. He kept telling himself mentally, and for some reason, his life never flashed before his eyes. Maybe that was a good thing; he probably couldn't handle the memories from his past bubbling up to the top. His eyes fell closed, and as he was about to throw his body weight forward and off the edge, arms wrapped around his waist and yanked him backward. His eyes flew open, his hands flailing to try to make the person let go, and fear began taking hold of him as he imagined Dixon trying to have his way with him again. He curled his pale fingers and raked his nails at the hands but, they didn't let go until he was fairly far away from his death. He whimpered and gasped for air, trying to relax himself as his "saviour" let go and moved back to let him recollect himself. The same voice from before was screaming at him but, he couldn't make out the words; he could only hear fear in them. You stupid...what were...how could...?!

When Loki's head quit spinning and he gathered himself together, he noticed the person with him was Clint, and he looked like he was about to deck the reincarnation in the face. He was pacing, hands shaking, and what seemed to be blood was dripping from the backs where Loki tore into them. He seemed too angry to care, like he cared about what he was about to do. He paused to look him directly in the eye as to prove a point before approaching, fist raised to hit him. The pale man flinched before the archer dropped his arm and sighed, keeping silent. That was practically the only quietness they got, considering the streets of New York were busy and the music was deafening. They stared at each other, neither one of them moving, just looking. Loki was standing with hunched shoulders, head down but, eyes up, not taking his gaze from Clint. He was standing with his weight on one leg, arms crossed over his chest with a hard glare set on his face. Loki knew he wasn't angry at him, just angry that he decided suicide was the last option to end his pain.

"What do you think you were doing? Do you think people wouldn't miss you? How would Tony feel? Do you not care about us anymore? You could have died, man. Remember that surprise I was talking about earlier? It was Tony, man, it was Tony, and he was coming to see you to tell you he can be with you more, now. He saw you leave into the bedroom and he was gonna follow you but, I told him not to, and I found you up here," Clint finally spoke, and when he did, it was like he wouldn't stop talking.

"You can't tell him," Loki said swiftly, a hint of plea in his voice.

"And why not? He deserves to know, Loki," Clint retaliated.

"Herregud, Clint Barton! Do you know what that would do to him?" Loki snarled, turning on his heel and going back to the fire escape.

He heard Clint ask what "herregud" meant but, he was too wrapped up in his own emotions to explain that it was a Norwegian curse which was "oh my god" in American terms. Loki stepped onto the escape, descending the stairs and getting to the room he came from. He slipped through the open window, not bothering to wait for the archer who was following behind. The moment his boot made contact with the carpeting, someone let out a sigh of relief, and when he looked up, he saw Anthony sitting on the bed nearby. He froze mid-trying to get in, eyes going wide, breathing picking up, and colour from his face draining. Tony stood, looking drained and like he had been crying, attempting to walk toward him. He would have backed up and returned to his original position on the roof, if it weren't for Clint complaining about not being inside, behind him. He completely went in, the archer following him and quickly leaving the two boyfriends alone to talk things out. Loki didn't move from where he was, feeling panic flood into him, nearing hyperventilation as Anthony moved closer, slowly, like he was trying to coax an injured fox into eating something from his hand. The taller man watched him intently, his fight or flight part of him busy with an internal battle on what he should do. Stark reached him, gently grabbing his arm and guiding him away from the window and to the bed, sitting on it as well but, not near him. He actually understood the meaning of space, and Loki thanked him for it silently.

"Loki, I'm-," He began but, Loki cut him off.

"I know, it's okay, your dad was sick, so you needed to take over the business until he was better," He told him, looking over to let him know the apology was accepted and forgiven.

"If it is okay, then why were you out there?" Tony asked, pointing to the window.

"It doesn't matter anymore," His voice was low, eyes darkening.

Anthony sighed and didn't say anything else, a sign he was letting the conversation go. It went silent, save for the noises from the rest of the flat, the room dark except for Tony's arc reactor illuminating as much as it could through his t-shirt. They sat in this silence until Tony lay back, staring at the ceiling, exhaling slowly. Loki looked at him, examining his facial features until he too, lay back but, began humming instead of exhaling. Tony stole a glance before rolling onto his side to face his boyfriend, reaching out to run his fingers ever so lightly across his stomach. The reincarnation raised an eyebrow, watching him trace invisible patterns on his skin, and going up to run along his rib bones that jutted out a bit. Seeing that it was okay for him to touch him, he went a bit further, getting closer and pushed Loki's half-shirt up his chest. Loki kept watching until Anthony was on top of him, straddling his waist, and staring down at him. His breath hitched in his throat as rough hands went up his sides, gripping the torn hem and pulling the shirt up over his head. He tensed, unsure of what Anthony was doing, though oddly okay with it considering what they had been through. Tony leant down, kissed his chest, and looked up to make sure it was alright before slipping his tongue across his nipple. Loki gasped, a moan hitching in his throat, and his back arched involuntarily against his mouth, causing his lover to smirk.

"Anthony, stop," He sighed, realising that this wasn't what he wanted and he needed some time to deal with his boyfriend just suddenly reappearing.

"Why?" The engineer whined, holding onto his hips and pressing his lips against his chest.

"Stark, enough," He growled, glaring at him enough to make him pull back and get off of him.

Loki sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, pushing his face into his hands, exhaling slowly. Sex didn't always make things better, and there was no way he was going to let Tony try to solve their problems through intercourse or whatever else he had in mind. Yes – they did have problems, though he wasn't sure how to go about fixing them right now. He ran his fingers through his hair, unsure of what really to say or do. He needed time and space in order to figure out his emotions and try to calm down. He shook his head and stood up, looking back at him with a frown. Tony was watching his every movement, looking hurt and like he didn't know what to do anymore. Denied sex so you act like I just ripped your heart out; classic Stark. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, chewing on his lip absentmindedly. He fixed his shirt so it rested on his chest properly, shaking his head and throwing his arms up in the air. He still couldn't think of something to say, so he turned and walked toward the door, opening it and going back to the party. He was suddenly stopped by the host, whose name Loki forgot, and talked at for a moment. He couldn't understand the slurred words but, he got the idea when everyone turned to look at the two.

"Thisss fag is a freak! No one wa-wants you here, Lo, s-so why not go back to Germany, you Nazi dick," The guy sneered, shoving him back.

Everyone joined in the jeers by screaming things like "faggot", "cock sucker", "shit packer", and whatever other homophobic remarks they could come up with. Tears welled in his eyes as he righted himself and backed up toward the front door, quickly leaving with Tony trying to catch up. His longer strides put him at a further distance from the flat and his boyfriend, attempting to escape the harassment that he had not expected to receive. Tears were now freely falling down his cheeks and choked sobs came from his mouth as he reached the elevator. His shaky hand was able to push the down button right as Anthony caught up to him. He whimpered and backed away, putting his hands up defensively in hopes that he would leave him be. Tony approached him slowly like before, wrapping his arms around him tightly. He attempted comfort but, Loki only tried shoving him away, crying and mentally stable enough to handle all of this at once. Near suicide, Anthony coming back, and now the things from people he thought didn't notice him proved to be too much for the reincarnated god. In the middle of his ungraceful flailing, he managed to connect his elbow to Tony's jaw, making him recoil for a moment. He jumped away and stumbled into the elevator, searching for some sanctuary but, was quickly joined by the inventor following him. He quickly shut the doors by pressing the button before Loki could run out, forcing him to stay contained for a bit until they got to ground floor.

"Loki, relax, just breathe," His worried voice filled his ears as he hyperventilated and sat on the bottom of the machine.

"I-I can't, I want...I want my brother," Loki sniffled, looking up when Tony knelt before him.

"He isn't here right now, so you're just going to have to deal with me, okay? I'm not going to hurt you,"

"No but, you might disappear again, and that's worse," He whispered, burying his face into his arms which were resting on his knees.

He couldn't handle any more people leaving him and just acting like nothing had happened. No phone calls, no texts, no emails, no letters, nothing; like they had fallen off the face of the earth and vanished into thin air. He jerked his head up to look at Tony with pained eyes, sniffling and trying to wipe his eyes on his sleeve. He sighed and slowly stood back up, trying to calm down as the elevator reached the last floor before the basement, dinging and opening its metal doors to let the couple out. He stumbled toward the doors of the building, ignoring Clint's truck and heading down the sidewalk with Tony trailing him. He doubted Clint even noticed them leave. Tony grabbed his wrist and pulled him to a stop in order to ask where he was going this time in the morning, to which Loki shrugged and stared at his feet. He listened to the other man sigh and watched him as he was pulled around the building and to the future billionaire's car. Loki's eyes ran across the Audi R8, shaking his head as the memory of his father flashed into his mind at the sight of the supped up sports vehicle. He was thankful it was dark so that if Anthony did look down at his arm, he wouldn't notice the self-harm scars from a few weeks ago and question them. That was one thing he definitely was not ready to deal with, for he was pretty sure that his boyfriend would flip.

Loki sighed and slid into the passenger seat of the car, always wondering what the huge fascination was with this type of automobile. The self-proclaimed playboy got into the driver's seat silently, starting the car and pulling out of the parking space. He started at a relatively normal speed for Anthony Stark at first until he flew down the road. Loki shook his head and stared out the window silently, watching the lights from the city fly by as they sped down the road. He let out a shaky breath and turned his gaze to Tony who seemed fixated on what he was doing, so he decided not to bother him, curious as he was. He felt like he could cry and hurt no more, like he ran out of emotions. Thor hadn't contacted him in over a month, his parents didn't either, and his friends slowly faded into the background. Steve ended up together with Phil but, who didn't see that coming? Gay man overpowering a supposed homophobe and fucking him in the end; big shocker there. Clint, as good as he might be, was still too fascinated with Natalia, and he couldn't exactly take his problems to Professor James. All he had now was Anthony, and he hoped he wouldn't lose such a magnificent man.

They came to a stop at an empty park surrounded by scattered vegetation, benches lining the pathway which led up to a small fountain in the centre. The grass was cut and looked as if it had been freshly watered by automatic sprinklers since the blades glistened under the moonlight. None of it was really breathtaking but, Loki enjoyed it nonetheless as he got out and shut the door, leaning against the body of the car. He was calmer now than before, though his eyes still burned from crying. Tony came over and grabbed his hand, twining their fingers together as he tugged him along to the beginning of the pathway. He inhaled the crisp – or as crisp as polluted air could be – oxygen as they walked, leading him toward the fountain. He listened to the crickets chirp and the nocturnal animals scuttle along the bushes, searching for food and doing what nature intended them to do. He sighed, walking a bit closer to the genius, staring straight ahead for once. He wasn't happy but, he was glad that Anthony was back and not going anywhere for a while. When they reached the fountain, they sat on the white concrete that made up the base that held the water, and Loki looked up at the sky. He watched the amount of stars he could see in the middle of New York, New York, smiling slightly at the dying balls of gas in the sky. Maybe their relationship could be saved after all.

"Do you see that star right there?" Tony asked, pointing to one ball in specific, closing one eye and smirking.

"Yeah," Loki replied, looking to where he had his finger stretched out to.

"I bought that one for you. I hope you forgive me,"

"I love you, you stupid dork," He replied, resting his head on Tony's shoulder with a smile stretched across his face.


End file.
